Naissant

In Naissant, the objective location is a bed; the subjective location, in thoughts. As in other films, Dwoskin films a woman alone in a room (more precisely a bedroom). Alone with one’s thoughts and in this case the thought of a child to be born. The woman is Beverly Grant, who also appears in Chinese Checkers, and is here filmed from the three sides of the bed, with three lenses working from bed level and standing level. The music is by Gavin Bryars. Naissant was filmed in New York in 1964 and completed in London in 1967.

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.