28b Camden Street

A powerful documentary which sees a community of artists under threat as their London studios face demolition.

In this moving documentary, a community of sculptors (and a potter) face crisis as their London NW1 studios are threatened with demolition. New community amenities are being created, but at the expense of vulnerable - and talented - individuals whose world is being turned upside down. Peter Laszlo Peri, today the best-remembered of these artists, is the central figure of a lyrical, thought-provoking film.

Derrick Knight & Partners was one of the most interesting documentary companies of the 1960s, producing a mixture of sponsored, broadcast and independent films in a freshly contemporary style. 28b Camden Street was a no-budget labour of love, shot over two years using spare film stock. Knight's protégé David Gladwell (perhaps best known for his remarkable film Requiem for a Village, also available on BFI Player) directs the film with a characteristically contemplative feel for landscape and its relationship with people. At the very end of production the BBC stepped in with some completion money and showed the film on BBC2.