Misinformation

Synopsis

MisinforMation is the result of the BFI asking mysterious music makers Mordant Music to re-score an array of public information films and documentary shorts produced by the Central Office of Information (COI) between 1970 and 1987. Sone of the films are well known - AIDS: ICEBERG (1986), MAGPIES:HOUSE (1987) - and some are from the early career of now famous filmmakers, such as Peter Greenaway’s INKJET PRINTER (Living Tomorrow 245) and THE SEA IN THEIR BLOOD. Others, such as ILLUSIONS, a film on solvent abuse (1983) and NEW TOWNS IN BRITAIN (1974) are here seeing the light of day for the first time since their original distribution.

Baron Mordant explains the process:
'The cordial gentlemen of the BFI led me blindfolded onto the roof at the BFI HQ Stephen
Street and left me propped against an obsolete Steenbeck with instructions to sniff my
way to the nearest nitrate room, ruMMage through the VHS mountain and not leave until
I’d misinformed at least one reel of usable DVD in earnest...in the midst of ruptured
telecine transfers and squealing reels a selection of COI films, redolent to my youth,
unearthed me and I duly smeared them with my detritus...I imagined sounds &
characters leaving one film & cropping up in another and that’s the way it eventually
spooled...a narrative manifested itself and ‘a return to the sea’ would appear to be the
iMMediate answer for future spores...'

Film materials for this release have been made available by the BFI National Archive and
the COI film collection.

MisinforMation will be on sale at
www.boomkat.com, www.mordantmusic.com
and the BFI Filmstore, www.bfi.org.uk/filmstore from
6 December 2010
RRP: £14.99 / cat. no. BFIVD898 / Cer

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2010

Notes

Reviewed in Viewfinder 82

Subjects

Media studies; Music

Keywords

experimental film & video; experimental music; film music; public information films

Credits

Music

Baron Mordant

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£14.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

101 minutes

Year

2010

Production Company

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

Name

COI

Distributor

Name

Mordant Music Webstore

Web

http://www.mordantmusic.com/apps/webstore/ External site opens in new window

 

Available from retail outlets