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London Film-Makers' Co-op

Celebrating 50 years of the LFMC (now Lux), the ground-breaking production and distribution cooperative for artists’ moving image.

The London Film-Makers Co-op was begun in October 1966 by a group of film enthusiasts that met in the basement of the Better Books shop on Charing Cross Road, with founder members including Ray Durgnat, Simon Hartog and Stephen Dwoskin. Inspired by the activities of Jonas Mekas and the New American Cinema Group in New York, the LFMC was initially established as a non-profit distribution cooperative. But with the arrival of a new generation of members, including Malcolm Le Grice, Fred Drummond and David Curtis, the LFMC expanded into organisation that incorporated a film workshop, cinema space and distribution office. Through the 70s, 80s and 90s, the LFMC was the UK’s principle hub for experimental and independent film culture. Following its demise, a new organisation LUX was formed in 2002, which continues to be the UK’s leading agency for the support and promotion of artists’ moving image. This selection of films from the first 25 years of the LFMC have been newly digitised by LUX as part of the LFMC’s 50th anniversary commemorations.

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Focii Focii

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 9 mins Silent

A female dancer performs in front of what appears to be a wall of mirrors until her reflection takes on a life of its own.

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Emily (Third Party Speculation) Emily (Third Party Speculation)

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 62 mins

Filmed in a closed domestic environment, this film investigates the question of identification and point of view in cinema.

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Tea Leaf Tea Leaf

Documentary 1988 8 mins

An intimate account of frustration and disarray in 1980s Britain from the point of view of a young woman.

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Spot the Microdot Spot the Microdot

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 8 mins

An unprintable film, handmade by punching holes into an opaque 16mm strip.

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Guerillere Talks Guerillere Talks

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 24 mins

Six film portraits of women associated with the punk music scene in 1970s New York.

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Blind White Duration Blind White Duration

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 13 mins Silent

Interaction between a blank white screen and filmed snow.

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Colours of This Time Colours of This Time

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1972 2 mins Silent

A time-lapse study of a London park during the course of a summer day

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Breath Breath

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 13 mins

Three people with cameras converge on a remote location near Hay Toor in Dartmoor.

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Angles of Incidence Angles of Incidence

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 8 mins

The view through the filmmaker’s window opens up the flat surface of the film screen.

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Real Time Real Time

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 33 mins

As she recollects her childhood, the filmmaker reflects on time, family and ageing.

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Muybridge Film Muybridge Film

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 4 mins Silent

Anne Rees-Mogg pays tribute to Muybridge’s studies of human motion with this portrait of filmmaker Renny Croft.

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A Length of Time A Length of Time

1970 22 mins

A documentary on life, filmic time and stock car racing.

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Welcome/Adieu Welcome/Adieu

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 3 mins

Victorian lantern slides and a ‘patriotic’ rendering of God Save the Queen

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Sentimental Journey Sentimental Journey

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1977 34 mins

A poetic tutorial about how to make an experimental film

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Nothing Is Something Nothing Is Something

1966 9 mins

The delicate everyday beauty of soap bubbles, moving water and rainbow reflections.

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Living Memory Living Memory

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 39 mins

The filmmaker revisits the landscape of her youth and her memory of it

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Grandfather's Footsteps Grandfather's Footsteps

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 36 mins

The filmmaker re-evokes the presence of her great-grandfather, Henry Stiles Savory, a Victorian clergyman, photographer and scientist.

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Transmogrification Transmogrification

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 9 mins

Two girls become 18th century ladies in this short film about the assumption of roles.

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Film No. 1 Film No. 1

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 10 mins

Film No. 1 emphasizes the material process of film printing through repetition, seriality and permutations of colour

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Choke Choke

1971 4 mins

The Coca-Cola sign in Piccadilly Circus at night to the sound of rock ’n’ roll.

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The Man with a Movie Camera The Man with a Movie Camera

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 9 mins Silent

A carefully controlled reflection on the process of filmmaking, playfully demonstrating the camera as a tool for constructing a filmed image.

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Eerie Eerie

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1992 1 mins

A vertiginous lesbian kiss in a mountain cablecar inspired by German expressionism.

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Lady Lazarus Lady Lazarus

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1991 24 mins

A cinematographic response to Sylvia Plath’s Lady Lazarus with Plath’s own readings of her poetry

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Terminals Terminals

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 20 mins

A filmic exploration of the working conditions of female nuclear workers.

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Arrows Arrows

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1984 16 mins

A first-person essay on the experience of anorexia and its cultural causes

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Uranium Hex Uranium Hex

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1987 12 mins

Uranium mining in Canada and the destruction of the environment

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Plutonium Blonde Plutonium Blonde

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 16 mins

A fractured narrative on a female worker at a plutonium terminal

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Gloucester Road Groove Gloucester Road Groove

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 2 mins Silent

An exuberant night out in buzzing 1960s Gloucester Road.

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Serpent River Serpent River

Documentary 1989 32 mins

An anti-nuclear film on a community living in proximity to uranium mines in Canada.

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Close Up Close Up

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 71 mins

A radical, anti-representational film set against the backdrop of the Nicaraguan revolution

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Silent Partner Silent Partner

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1977 33 mins

Domestic interiors are interrogated by a restless camera in this radical, anti-narrative film.

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Hall Hall

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 11 mins

A static shot of a hallway, demystified and disrupted by quick cuts and an alarm ringing.

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Condition of Illusion Condition of Illusion

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 32 mins Silent

A problematisation of the relation between spectator and photographic image.

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Key Key

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 10 mins

A photograph of Nico is abstracted beyond recognition through a zoom.

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C/O/N/S/T/R/U/C/T C/O/N/S/T/R/U/C/T

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 14 mins Silent

Five layers of optical superimposition demonstrate film as a construct.

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8mm film-notes on 16mm 8mm film-notes on 16mm

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 19 mins

A structuralist collage emphasizing the difference between 8mm and 16mm film gauges

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Now Now

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 8 mins Silent

A film by an early British pioneer of computer generated filmmaking.

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Not to See Again Not to See Again

1981 14 mins

An anti-montage film hovering on the line between abstraction and representation

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Guesswork Guesswork

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 11 mins

Details, fragments, transformations and shadows of a confined space.

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The Ten Commandments of Love The Ten Commandments of Love

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 4 mins

An impassioned embrace on an ocean pier to 'The Ten Commandments of Love'.

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She Said She Said

1983 27 mins

A film on the theme of women’s work and free time

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G G

1979 5 mins

A reflection on the relationship between language and work

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Returning Returning

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 7 mins

Looking outside and looking back in the same moment; the collision of memory and reluctance.

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Journey Journey

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1976 4 mins

Reveries during a train journey are suggested though montage

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Tracks Tracks

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1989 28 mins

A feminist collage/essay film that takes a critical look at certain feminist theories.

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The Pecking Order The Pecking Order

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1989 5 mins

A beautifully painted animated critique of modern intensive farming methods

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Unfolding Unfolding

1987 15 mins

A council launderette as a site of oppression and possible resistance

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Fatima's Letter Fatima's Letter

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1992 20 mins

A woman remembers her past while travelling on the London Underground

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Swan Swan

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 3 mins Silent

Close-up images of a white swan as it prepares for flight

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Three Paces Three Paces

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1989 14 mins

An urban fairy tale where myth and reality constantly collide

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Durga (A Ritual) Durga (A Ritual)

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 23 mins

Meaning is built through repetition in this filmic meditation of sexuality, loss and rebirth.

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Still Life Still Life

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1976 5 mins Silent

A traditional ‘still life’ serves as subject for a film on colour transformation

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Fireworks Fireworks

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1976 3 mins Silent

Images of fireworks superimposed in the camera and in the optical printer

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Clouds Clouds

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 3 mins Silent

Clouds filmed from a moving car producing the illusion of space within the frame

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Light Music Light Music

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 31 mins

Classic expanded cinema work that proposes a direct relationship between the sonic and the visual.

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Mechanical Ballet Mechanical Ballet

1975 9 mins Silent

Double-screen found-footage film in which car crash tests take a sinister and humorous quality.

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Footsteps Footsteps

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 6 mins

Actor and cameraman engage in a game of ‘grandmother’s footsteps’ in a playfully delightful film.

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Some Friends Some Friends

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 5 mins

Polaroid portraits of the filmmaker’s friends are filmed against various backdrops

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Cezanne's Eye Cezanne's Eye

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 23 mins

An experiential journey through the landscape of Cezanne’s Provence.

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The Red Sea The Red Sea

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1992 21 mins

A tragic journey of self-discovery through land, sea and the body

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Chameleon Chameleon

1990 5 mins

A woman searches through an interior landscape, where she is both trapped and contained

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A Nosegay A Nosegay

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 17 mins

A homoerotic homage to Genet and Lautréamont with an angel and a hermaphrodite.

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L'Ange Frénétique L'Ange Frénétique

1986 5 mins

A study of frustration and insolence featuring an epicene angel played by Cerith Wyn Evans

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Alone Alone

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1963 13 mins

A girl alone in her room, smoking, putting on make-up, masturbating.

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Chinese Checkers Chinese Checkers

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1965 13 mins

Two masked women make love while playing the board game.

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Naissant Naissant

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 13 mins

A woman in a bedroom, alone with her own thoughts .

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The Cat and the Woman, A Cautionary Tale The Cat and the Woman, A Cautionary Tale

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1987 2 mins

A woman loses her head to a cat in return for a man.

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Thinking Twice Thinking Twice

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1997 10 mins

A film which attempts to reflect the rigour of the music featuring pianist Katharina Wolpe.

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Free Show Free Show

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1979 17 mins

Three potentially violent domestic activities performed by a woman.

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The Garden of Eating The Garden of Eating

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 3 mins

A stop-motion collage film that constructs a garden out of flowers, candles, plastic cellophane and food

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Snig Snig

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 5 mins

A young woman shakes eels out from between the sheets of a bed.

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Shower Proof Shower Proof

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 9 mins Silent

A quotidian yet abstract bathroom sequence, printed on high-contrast negative film.

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Looking for the Moon Looking for the Moon

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1987 5 mins Silent

Tentative gestures of hands and body become symbolic of trust and the need to escape

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Imaginary Imaginary

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1989 16 mins

A film in three parts shot in varying intimate and personal environments.

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Hide & Seek Hide & Seek

1987 15 mins

A metaphorical and lyrical journey of discovery through childhood memories

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Yes No Maybe Not Yes No Maybe Not

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1967 8 mins Silent

Black and white images of lapping water are juxtaposed with and superimposed upon Battersea Power Station in this double-screen film.

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Soul in a White Room Soul in a White Room

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 3 mins

An intimate encounter suggested by two pairs of hands

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Milk and Glass Milk and Glass

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1993 9 mins

Boundaries are blurred as images of a woman’s body are projected onto domestic objects

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Windowframe Windowframe

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1975 7 mins

A domestic scene with a man and woman, as seen through a window

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That’s Entertainment/The Conjuror’s Assistants That’s Entertainment/The Conjuror’s Assistants

Documentary 1978 23 mins

Frame by frame analysis of documentary footage taken at a children’s Christmas party.

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Lenseless Lenseless

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 4 mins

The lens is removed from the camera resulting in a complex interplay of light patterns

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Variant Variant

Documentary 1973 17 mins

A film that attempts to create the rhythm and transience of felt experience.

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Cross Cross

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 42 mins Silent

Instinctive yet formal, a film that takes a drawing of a cross as a score.

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Sign Sign

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 43 mins

An experiential film that captures the filmmaker’s flux-like process of being in a room, filming.

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Stabat Mater Stabat Mater

Drama 1990 8 mins

An exultant journey through the emotional landscape of the filmmaker’s native Gibraltar.

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Close to Home Close to Home

Documentary 1985 28 mins

An image of freedom and the melancholy of parting in this film about Gibraltar

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"Now I Am Yours" "Now I Am Yours"

Documentary 1993 33 mins

Extreme state of religious and sexual ecstasy in this film on the figure of Saint Teresa

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Repertory Repertory

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 9 mins

The camera circles the exterior of an empty theatre while a voice describes ‘imaginary presentations’ inside.

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The Institution The Institution

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 54 mins

A critique of the institution of mental health care that questions ‘normal’ viewing habits.

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Sheet Sheet

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1970 22 mins

A white linen sheet is filmed in a series of locations as focal point

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Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1972 15 mins

A quintessential Co-op film made using the contact printer

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Tender Kisses Tender Kisses

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1972 11 mins

This film questions the convincing illusion produced by the two great illusionists: Television and Cinema.

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Vistasound Vistasound

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 45 mins

A film that raises questions about the associations between song lyrics and particular places.

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Sheepwoman Sheepwoman

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1970 12 mins

A self-reflexive film in which a woman reads a text about shearing to camera.

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Red + Green + Blue Red + Green + Blue

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1970 10 mins Silent

In this structural-materialist film, colour is generated by landscape: from the sky, the grass and berries

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Mothfight Mothfight

1985 7 mins

A hand-scratched film on light, dark, insects and cinema

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Soliloquy Soliloquy

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1967 9 mins

A girl broods over a failed love affair while the camera roves over her.

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Jesus Blood Jesus Blood

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 30 mins

A man walks towards the camera to the sound of 'Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet'.

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C-Film C-Film

Documentary 1970 14 mins

Two women in a swinging London living room in a film that questions acting.

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Light Occupations: Lens and Mirror Film Light Occupations: Lens and Mirror Film

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 3 mins

Playful investigation of the filmic equipment, particularly camera and projector

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Deck Deck

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 14 mins

A reel of 8mm film undergoes a mysterious transformation through refilming, colour changing and printing

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Lens Hand Foot Lens Hand Foot

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1973 3 mins Silent

The filmmaker explores the relationship of her own body to the filmmaking apparatus

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Mysteries Mysteries

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 7 mins Silent

A photomontage film that offers an interpretation of the mystery of the harvest.

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Red Sea Red Sea

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 6 mins Silent

Spring tides and menstrual cycles at the full and new moon

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Persisting Persisting

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 9 mins

An image of the Yangtse bridge is re-filmed with a soundtrack of popular Chinese music.

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At the Academy At the Academy

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1974 5 mins

A found-footage film made entirely from the countdown leader that is normally used to cue the start of films.

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Cycles Cycles

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1972 5 mins

A circular form fluctuates in rhythms of light and sound in this hand-made film.

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Salt Water Salt Water

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1986 19 mins

Reflections in fish tanks in the windows of restaurants in Chinatown, San Francisco.

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One Million Unemployed in Winter 1971 One Million Unemployed in Winter 1971

Documentary 1971 7 mins

A film on unemployment, which was made to be shown at Claimants Union meetings.

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Four Films Four Films

1969 12 mins

Early experimentations with film by a materialist sculptor and future structural filmmaker

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Five Films Five Films

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1969 17 mins

Five experimentations with film as a medium, a physical object and a record of social reality

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Green on the Horizon Green on the Horizon

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1988 17 mins Location: Cliffe Marshes

The haunting qualities of the English countryside are evoked in this enigmatic film: part fake public information film, part occult jaunt.

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Industrial Relations Bill Industrial Relations Bill

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 4 mins Silent

Experimental film responding to the controversial Industrial Relations Bill of 1971

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Macbeth a Tragedy Macbeth a Tragedy

Drama 1983 6 mins

Experimental Shakespeare: prose and poetry, reading and performance, with filming mechanics laid bare

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Eros Erosion Eros Erosion

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1989 41 mins

A meditation on transcience, trauma and taboo in the cruel wake of the AIDS epidemic