Britain in the Twenties

Synopsis

A compilation of rare short British avant-garde films made in the 1920s, influenced by the ‘art’ cinema of the USSR and Germany. The chosen films represent the many distinct avant-garde styles of the period.

Series

History of the Avant-Garde, A: Series

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w. 82 min.

Year of production

1936

Availability

Sale; 2000 sale: £15.99 (inclusive)

Documentation

Accompanying booklet on the British avant-garde movement by Michael O’Pray.

Subjects

Media studies

Keywords

British cinema; experimental film & video; short films

Credits

Director

Adrian Brunel; Brian Salt; Desmond Dickensen; Hans Richter; Ivor Montagu; Len Lye; Robert Fairthorne

Sections

Title

Tusalava

Synopsis

1 (director Len Lye, 1929, silent, 10 min): An experimental animated film drawing on Maori, Aboriginal and modernist influences. The Samoan title means 'just the same'.

Title

Crossing the Great Sagrada

Synopsis

2 (director Adrian Brunel, silent, 1924): A burlesque travelogue telling the story of Holmes, Sweet and Holmes's voyage by sea to Africa where they set off on camels across the desert to finally arrive at the famous Cascara of Sagrada falls.

Title

Bluebottles

Synopsis

3 (director Ivor Mongtagu, 1929, silent, 26 min): An H G Wells-scripted comedy starring husband-and-wife team Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. A girl blows a whistle to see what will happen. She alerts the whole police force, captures a gang of croo

Title

C.O.D.

Synopsis

4 (directors Sinclair Hill, Desmond Dickensen, 1929). Subtitled A MELLOW DRAMA. Sends up the long-loved genre - the terror serial. The basic gag is that we never see a face, only clutching hands, creeping feet, shadows, and ominous close-ups of enigmatic

Title

Everyday

Synopsis

5: (director Hans Richter, 1929): A frenetic piece of left-wing agit-prop, structured around images of the daily routine of waking and working in London which are repeated a number of times in a variety of combinations, accompanied by African music and a

Title

X+X=0

Synopsis

6 (directors Robert Fairthorne and Brian Salt, 1936). Starts from twin circles, like a blackboard diagram, which sprout shapes from chords, tangents, radii, etc in a hypnotic fashion.

Distributor

Name

BFI Video

Email

video.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7957 8957

Fax

020 7957 8968

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

 

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