This film will be available in subscription on 1 October 2021
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
The taped crusader: VHS nerds, media scholars and archive enthusiasts will appreciate this documentary about the African-American activist who recorded 30 years of TV news.
Documentary 2018 88 mins Not rated
Director: Matt Wolf
Overview
Everyone’s an amateur archivist these days, but few match the pre-internet dedication of public access TV producer Marion Stokes. Philadelphia’s visionary hoarder recorded 70,000 VHS tapes filled with news broadcasts, from 1979’s Iranian hostage crisis to the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project shows how this librarian, computer collector and Star Trek-loving civil rights activist quickly perceived the ways 24-hour cable television was rewiring viewers’ minds. Hence her obsessive preservation project, captured to brilliant effect by celebrated documentarian Matt Wolf, who previously directed Teenage (2013). Enhanced by Owen Pallet’s score, the film’s cathode ray tube textures and armchair sensory overload will mesmerise everyone, from curious cultural historians to extreme analogue technology fetishists.
Accessibility
Related
Documentary
As Above, So Below As Above, So Below
Documentary 2020 70 mins Director: Sarah Francis
A poetic reflection on sovereignty, perspective, space and futurisms.
Let's Talk Let's Talk
Documentary 2021 99 mins Director: Marianne Khoury
An exploration of identity, as told by the women in family of the great Egyptian filmmaker, Youssef Chahine.
Talking about Trees Talking about Trees
Documentary 2019 94 mins Director: Suhaib Gasmelbari
Beautifully shot documentary about four members of the 'Sudanese Film Club' who decide to revive an old cinema.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
I'm British But... I'm British But...
Documentary 1989 29 mins Director: Gurinder Chadha
Britain beats to the sound of Bhangra and Bangla in Gurinder Chadha's debut film.
Black Star
I Am Not Your Negro I Am Not Your Negro
Documentary 2016 94 mins Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary reconstructs an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, chronicler of America’s Civil Rights Movement.
Dear White People Dear White People
Comedy 2014 108 mins Director: Justin Simien
The diversification of an all-black residence hall forces a group of African-American university students to take a stand on their own cultural beliefs and identities.
One Man and His Shoes One Man and His Shoes
Documentary 2020 83 mins Director: Yemi Bamiro
South Londoner Yemi Bamiro’s pacey, engrossing Michael Jordan documentary reveals the darker side of marketing trainers.
Miss Juneteenth Miss Juneteenth
Drama 2020 100 mins Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
A soulful and uplifting drama of mother-daughter bonds and deferred dreams.
Billie Billie
Documentary 2019 98 mins Director: James Erskine
Part film-noir, part tragedy, this mesmerising documentary uncovers the true life of the legendary Billie Holiday.
Judas and the Black Messiah Judas and the Black Messiah
Drama 2020 125 mins Director: Shaka King
Daniel Kaluuya is electrifying as Fred Hampton, leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther party, in Shaka King's visceral crime thriller and immersive slice of American history.
New
As Above, So Below As Above, So Below
Documentary 2020 70 mins Director: Sarah Francis
A poetic reflection on sovereignty, perspective, space and futurisms.
Let's Talk Let's Talk
Documentary 2021 99 mins Director: Marianne Khoury
An exploration of identity, as told by the women in family of the great Egyptian filmmaker, Youssef Chahine.
200 Meters 200 Meters
Drama 2019 96 mins Director: Ameen Nayfeh
In Ameen Nayfeh’s accomplished feature debut, a Palestinian father navigates the complexities of life under occupation, where the wall separates him from his family.
Beauty and the Dogs Beauty and the Dogs
Drama 2017 100 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Kaouther Ben Hania’s bold and defiant fiction debut tells the story of a sexual assault in nine stunning single-take sequences.
Siberia Siberia
Drama 2020 91 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara returns with an extraordinarily vivid, visually dazzling and characteristically strange rumination on sex, dreams and death.
Talking about Trees Talking about Trees
Documentary 2019 94 mins Director: Suhaib Gasmelbari
Beautifully shot documentary about four members of the 'Sudanese Film Club' who decide to revive an old cinema.