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Hall
A static shot of a hallway, demystified and disrupted by quick cuts and an alarm ringing.
Overview
A hallway and a room partially visible, pictures (one of Jean-Luc Godard) on a wall, fruit on a table, and so forth. The commonplace is rendered almost monotonous as we become increasingly familiar with it from a fixed and sustained viewpoint, only to be disoriented by quick, closer cuts and also by the prolonged ringing of an alarm. Through repetition and duration, Peter Gidal seeks “a demystified reaction by the viewer to a demystified situation”.
Founded in 1966, the London Film-Makers’ Co-operative started life at Better Books, a counter-culture bookshop on Charing Cross Road, where a group led by poet Bob Cobbing and filmmakers Stephen Dwoskin and Jeff Keen met to screen films. Initially inspired by the activities of the New American Cinema Group in New York, the London Co-op grew into a pioneering organisation that incorporated a film workshop, cinema space and distribution office. During its four-decade history, the Co-op played a crucial role in establishing film as an art form in the UK and participated in a vibrant international film scene. This BFI Player collection brings together new scans of films distributed by and/or produced at the London Co-op.
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