Together

Two deaf-mute dock workers eke out a humble existence in London's East End in Lorenza Mazzetti's striking example of Free Cinema.

Italian director Lorenza Mazzetti borrowed techniques from the neorealist school to conjure this striking study of East End life, one of the original Free Cinema shorts. Following the ambling existence of two deaf-mute dock workers, Mazzetti crafts a poetic depiction of post-war London populated by unruly children, sparse bedsits and harsh realities.

With its minimal dialogue and focus on the everyday minutiae of working-class life, Together shared some stylistic similarities to the emerging documentary movement Free Cinema, but it was still the only narrative film included in the first Free Cinema programme in 1956 at the National Film Theatre. Sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi and painter Michael Andrews star in the lead roles, with Lindsay Anderson contributing to the edit and soundtrack.