London Film-Makers Co-op 50th Anniversary

Dresden Dynamo (1971) – Lis Rhodes 5 min
Diagonal (1973)- William Raban (3 Screen) 5 min
Marvo Movie (1967) Jeff Keen 5 min

Tonight I went to a special screening of some of the work from the first decade of the London Film-Makers co-op. Upon introduction it was explained to us that the film makers approached their work as if they were sculpting a film rather than from a more traditional approach, and that they all came from an Art School background rather than a film makers.

The first Film-Makers co-op was set up in London in 1966 by Film Makers Bob Copping and Henry Matusow. Matusow had fled america after being incarcerated during the McCarthy trials, he was rejected by Film-Making circles in america and as a result immigrated to England. After a little while, a younger group fused with them and moved the focus toward production of film rather than solely distribution. With an investment of £3000 from a businessman with particular interest in the arts, the group bought the equipment they needed and the rest is history.

It was really brilliant seeing these films, I particularly enjoyed the three films I’ve featured above. The Dresden Dynamo film by Lis Rhodes featured lots of red and blue patterns transforming to a sound track appropriate to each transition. The Diagonal film by William Raban came to a dramatic climatic end where I was almost concerned it would blow the speakers. Mario Movie by Jeff Keen was particularly interesting, featuring an almost satanic whispering over the burning and distortion of objects and possessions.

It was really interesting going to see this screening, I’ve not had much exposure to film making in art before and it was really effective. I definitely want to explore the work of these artists further and maybe look into trying some film-making myself in the future.