Fugitive Images & The Floating Cinema present: 'I Was Here', Haggerston Estate, Hackney
Regent's Canal
Haggerston Estate Clarissa Street E8 4HN
Fugitive Images and the Floating Cinema present a free day of
tours, discussions and open-air film screenings in and around
the Haggerston Estate & Regent's Canal in Hackney.
Architects, authors, artists and academics will offer a moment
of reflection on the changing face of housing in London,
accompanied by a series of critical and creative site-specific
responses.
Part of Open House London 2012: The Changing Face of
Housing.
Schedule
3-4.30pm Simultanous film and architectural tours (Ian Christie,
David Roberts) Starting from Samuel Estate Courtyard, Haggerston,
E8 4HN.
5-7pm Panel discussion on the Changing Face of Housing (Speakers
include: Marcus Coates, Owen Jones, Michael Rosen and Emma Louise
Williams, Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Nina Pope and David Roberts).
The Art House
Foundation, 55 Laburnum Street, E2 8BD.
7.30-10pm Open Air film screenings including a short film by
Fugitive Images and the 1984 comdey 'The Chain'. Dunston Road,
E8.
The tours and panel discussion are now booked out.
However , do come along to the evening screening on Dunston
Road.
Join us for an alternative East End celebration and social
outdoor film night at the most glamorous community garden in East
London: Abbey Gardens. At dusk, Marcus Coates' brilliantly
inventive film 'Vision Quest: A Ritual for Elephant & Castle'
will be screened, and there may also be a chance to get a sneak
peek of nearby fireworks!
Refreshments from garden produce will be served and you are
welcome to bring a picnic. Please be aware this event coincides
with the Olympic Opening Ceremony, so we strongly recommend walking
or cycling to the garden to avoid transport / access problems.
Multiplex at The Dock hosts The Floating Cinema for London Design Festival 2011
Portobello Dock, Grand Union Canal
344 Ladbroke Grove W10 5BU
Thomas Thwaites, The Toaster Project Photo: Nick Ballon
The Floating Cinema took part in Multiplex at The Dock, hosted
by Tom Dixon, from Wednesday 21st – Friday 23rd
September, presenting a programme of short films by
ex-students from the Design
Interactions department at the Royal College of Art
selected by Floating Cinema
artists Somewhere.
Films from the RCA Design
Interactions Department
These films were selected from work by graduates
from the The Royal College of Art Design
Interactions department from the last five
years. The focus of this unique post graduate course is
on designing interactions between people and technology on a number
of different levels. We are concerned not only with the expressive,
functional and communicative possibilities of new technologies
but also with the social, cultural and ethical consequences of
living within an increasingly technologically mediated society. We
explore new ways design can make technology more meaningful
and relevant to our lives, both now, and in the future, by thinking
not only about new applications but implications as well.
We use design to inspire, raise awareness, stimulate discussion,
and provoke debate, all of which can help achieve technological
futures that reflect the complex, troubled people we are,
rather than the easily satisfied consumers and users we are
supposed to be.
Curated by long-term tutor on the course, Nina Pope
(of Somewhere.org.uk),
this selection of films by ex-students was an openly personal one -
reflecting many of the more 'engaged' projects that deal directly
with their audience, often inviting them to be part of the design
process.
Films:
Thomas Thwaites, The Toaster
Project(11’39”)
Ka Fai Choy,SynchroMetrics
(3’10”)
Alison Thomson,The Chronic Facility
(05’07”)
J. Paul Neeley,Masamichi Souzou
(02’00”)
Cesar
Harada,Open_Sailing (03’56”, 01’23”,
03’55”)
Lisa Ma,Wellmen Waters
(07’46”)
Tuur Van Balen, Pigeon d'Or
(11’45”)
Nitipak Samsen, Coin Flipper (04’
28”)
Oliver Goodhall,Nuclear is Good. What
will it take to convince you (10’33”)
Elliott P. Montgomery, The Energy Pilots
Introduction Video (03’23”)
Louise O'Connor,Choreography of the
Very Small (06’16”)
Zoe Papadopoulou,Nuclear Dialogues
(05’20”)
Tuur Van Balen, Cook Me - Black
Bile (06’40”)
Milan
Metthey,Foreign Affairs (02’47”,
02’44”, 01’09”, 10’30”, 04’05”)
Steven Levon Ounanian,My Mother's
Robot (34’37”)
No booking necessary. Spaces on a first-come first-served
basis.
Multiplex at The Dock hosts The Floating Cinema for London Design Festival 2011
Portobello Dock, Grand Union Canal
344 Ladbroke Grove W10 5BU
Production Still: Oliver Goodhall, 'Nuclear is Good. What will it take to convince you'
The Floating Cinema took part in Multiplex at The Dock, hosted
by Tom Dixon, from Wednesday 21st – Friday 23rd
September, presenting a programme of short films by
ex-students from the Design
Interactions department at the Royal College of Art. On
the Thursday Maria Smith of Studio Weave, the Floating Cinema
architects, gave a talk about their design approach.
11.45am Studio Weave talk
Films from the RCA Design
Interactions Department
These films were selected from work by graduates
from the The Royal College of Art Design
Interactions department from the last five years. The
focus of this unique post graduate course is on designing
interactions between people and technology on a number of different
levels. We are concerned not only with the expressive, functional
and communicative possibilities of new technologies but also
with the social, cultural and ethical consequences of living within
an increasingly technologically mediated society. We explore new
ways design can make technology more meaningful and relevant
to our lives, both now, and in the future, by thinking not only
about new applications but implications as well.
We use design to inspire, raise awareness, stimulate discussion,
and provoke debate, all of which can help achieve technological
futures that reflect the complex, troubled people we are,
rather than the easily satisfied consumers and users we are
supposed to be.
Curated by long-term tutor on the course, Nina Pope
(of Somewhere.org.uk),
this selection of films by ex-students was an openly personal one -
reflecting many of the more 'engaged' projects that deal directly
with their audience, often inviting them to be part of the design
process.
Films:
Thomas Thwaites, The Toaster Project(11’39”)
Ka Fai Choy,SynchroMetrics
(3’10”)
Alison Thomson,The Chronic Facility
(05’07”)
J. Paul Neeley,Masamichi Souzou
(02’00”)
Cesar Harada,Open_Sailing
(Open_Sailing 03’56”, Energy Animal 01’23”, Protei
03’55”)
Lisa Ma,Wellmen Waters (07’46”)
Tuur Van Balen, Pigeon d'Or
(11’45”)
Nitipak Samsen, Coin Flipper (04’
28”)
Oliver Goodhall,Nuclear is Good. What will
it take to convince you (10’33”)
Elliott P. Montgomery, The Energy Pilots
Introduction Video (03’23”)
Louise O'Connor,Choreography of the Very
Small (06’16”)
Zoe Papadopoulou,Nuclear Dialogues
(05’20”)
Tuur Van Balen, Cook Me - Black
Bile (06’40”)
Milan Metthey,Foreign
Affairs (Love Ducking 02’47”, 02’44”, 01’09”, Vulpes Sapiens
Mediator 10’30”, Wild Sweet Home 04’05”)
Steven Levon Ounanian,My Mother's Robot
(34’37”)
No booking necessary. Spaces on a first-come first-served
basis.
Multiplex at The Dock hosts The Floating Cinema for London Design Festival 2011
Portobello Dock, Grand Union Canal
344 Ladbroke Grove W10 5BU
The Floating Cinema took part in Multiplex at
The Dock, hosted by Tom Dixon, from Wednesday 21st –
Friday 23rd September, presenting a programme of short
films by ex-students from the Design Interactions
department at the Royal College of Art selected by Floating Cinema
artists Somewhere, and on the Wednesday highlights from
The Floating Cinema's live tours.
Ian
Giles: A Smaller Sound A Bigger Crowd, Docklands (17’05”)
Cedar Lewisohn's
Graffiti tour from Folly for a Flyover (12’18”)
4.30-6pm Feature film for Peace
One Day:
The Day After Peace(81’,
2008) A Film by Jeremy Gilley
The Day After Peace charts the remarkable 10 year journey of
award winning filmmaker Jeremy Gilley to establish an annual Peace
Day on 21 September. The camera follows as he galvanises the
countries of the world to recognise an official day of ceasefire
and non-violence.
No booking necessary. Spaces on a first-come first-served
basis.
Starting from: The View Tube
The Greenway, Marshgate Lane E15 2PJ
Photo: Nina Pope Abbey Gardens Harvest Festival
A small group enjoyed a guided waterborne tour of some of east
London's beautiful and productive green spaces, including
Abbey Gardens, designed by Somewhere, the Floating
Cinema's artists, where the tour ended at the 2011 Harvest
Festival.
Green East Tour Saturday 17th of September -
Schedule
10.00 Group meet at VIEW
TUBE CAFE garden
10.30 Walk along greenway & see GROWING CONCERNS board above
Old Ford Lock
11.15 Cruise up to Hackney Wick & moor
11.45 LEABANK
SQUARE purple garden visit
12.15 Walk to MABLEY
GREEN MEADOW & join bulb planting event
1.00 Cruise back up to 3 Mills and disembark (showing films on
route)
2.30 Visit 3 MILLS
GARDEN & House Mill Open as part of Open House
3.00 Walk to ABBEY GARDENS and join the Harvest Festival
This waterborne tour of some of East London's beautiful and
productive gardens was arranged especially for those involved
with community green spaces. An invited group from East London
gardens took a day tour of different projects to hear about how
they run and to share their experiences of developing community
growing projects.
The day ended with a broader free networking event at Abbey
Gardens (designed by Somewhere the Floating Cinema's artists) where
we also screened some outdoor films.
Green East Tour Friday 16th of September -
Schedule
10.00 Meet at VIEW TUBE
CAFE & look at their garden - Intro by Sophie Hoskin
10.30 Walk along greenway & board The Floating Cinema above Old
Ford Lock
11.00 Cruise up to Hackney Wick & moor
11.30 Visit LEABANK
SQUARE Purple Garden
12.00 Visit MABLEY
GREEN MEADOW
1.00 Cruise to Springfield & moor
2.00 Visit ROBIN
HOOD COMMUNITY GARDEN
2.30 Visit GROWING
COMMUNITIES - Intro from Sara Davies
3.15 Cruise back to 3 Mills from Springfield showing films on route
5.45 Visit 3 MILLS
GARDEN
6.00 Walk via West Ham Allotments to Abbey Gardens
6.30 End of day networking event at ABBEY GARDENS for
gardeners and green space friends groups
8.00 pm event ends
Open Thursday - Highlights from the Floating Cinema
Hale Wharf, River Lee Navigation
Ferry Lane N17 9NF
Still from Invisible
To celebrate our last Open Thursday we screened some of our
favourite films and highlights of the Floating Cinema's live
events, shot and edited by Britt Hatzius. The day
concluded with the exquisite feature film 'Invisible'.
2.00pm - 6.30pm
A selection of films of the diverse
Floating Cinema tours featuring writer
Iain Sinclair, broadcaster Michael
Smith, film historian Ian Christie,
graffiti expert CedarLewisohn and performers Holly
Burn, Susie Donkin
and Jemima Burrill.
6.30pm
Invisible (2007) 63mins, directed by
Roz Mortimer
Artist and film
maker Roz Mortimer leads us on a hypnotic journey to the high
Arctic in this profound film about our environment.We think of the
Arctic as a pristine wilderness, and when scientists went to
collect breast milk from Inuit mothers, they were expecting to
find the purest milk anywhere on earth. But the levels went off the
scale. The milk of the Inuit mothers was loaded with chemicals
migrating from the south. INVISIBLE tells the story of how
man-made chemicals are building up in our bodies and being passed
from mother to child.
Using medieval texts and maps to question hierarchies of
knowledge, Mortimer shows us epic scenes of contemporary Inuit
life, explores their traditional connection to the earth and stages
dramatic tableaux vivant in landscapes of frozen
sea.
INVISIBLE has a unique musical score including free-yoik from
Sami musician Wimme Saari, live and
operatic throatsinging from Inuit artist Tanya
Tagaq and an exquisite theremin composition from
Michael Kosmides.
Featuring the award winning environmental scientist Theo
Colborn; the chair of the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference Sheila Watt-Cloutier; and Inuit
mothers who offer emotionally charged testimonies; this provocative
film resists the conventions of science documentaries and
questions how we live in the world today.
A day of specially-selected films programmed by the East End
Film Festival.
EAST END SHORTS 2011 - A compilation of the
best East End documentary and fiction short films from this
spring's East End Film Festival.
East End Film Festival 2011 trailer / Joe
Morris / 3mins
The Mud and the Dust / Dan Brackenbury / 5 mins
Connect / Samuel Abrahams / 5 mins
Release the Flying Monkeys / Alex Taylor / 9 mins
Ridley Road / Adam Ryzman / 9 mins
Windows / Ruth Cook / 4 mins
Marina on Top / Uriel Emil / 7 mins
Promise / David Alexander / 9 mins
Godview / Billy Lumby / 7 mins
Tricil: The Emancipation / Franck Trebillac / 5
mins
Drift / Theo Tagholm / 5 mins
Watching / Max Myers / 14 mins
EAST END SHORTS, TEN YEARS OF THE BEST - A
compilation of the best documentary and fiction short films from
the past ten years of the festival.
East End Film Festival 2011 trailer / Joe
Morris / 3mins
Kids Might Fly / Alex Taylor / 5 mins
September / Esther May Campbell / 21 mins
Regs Patch / Gemma Atkinson / 3 mins
Bathysphere / Michela Wettell / 6 mins
City of Cranes / Eva Weber / 27 mins
Growing / David Alexander / 12 mins
Eric’s Secrets / Lucia Ashmore / 5 mins
Peter and Ben / Pinny Grylls / 10 mins
Britain's leading nature writer Richard
Mabey(Weeds, Food for Free) gave three
tours with a floating commentary on the diverse feral vegetation of
the East End cut, which he has known since living and working in
London in the early seventies.
In this film, Richard talks about the origins and waning fashion
of waterside plants as common as buddleia and Japanese knotweed -
the latter allegedly costing developers millions to eradicate from
the Olympic Park and apparently originating from the garden
collection of a suprising source. Many less common native and
garden-escapes are identified along the way, including angelica,
soapwort (the detergent qualities of which are trialled by our
intrepid passengers!) and even figs.
Richard also offers an insight into the boyhood origins of his
own interest in the natural world and to his current environmental
philosophy:
"It's wrong for us to think parentally about naure, that it
can't survive without our care"
A magical outdoor screening of Wes Anderson's (truly) Fantastic
Mr. Fox projected onto the canal banks right next to the 3
Mills studios where the film was made. The stop motion
animation feature film was made here over an 18
month period between 2007 - 2009. The film was shot on 3
stages which housed approximately 30 animation sets. Other
facilities included production offices, workshops, art
departments, special effects and an important
'puppet hospital' for repairing damaged and broken
puppets.
We were joined by an impressive crowd with many in fox-related
fancy dress (!) on the night.
There was also a unique chance to meet Mark Waring, who was
Animation Supervisor on the film to see maquettes and puppets
onboard the Floating Cinema before the screening began.
Production Still: 'Bata-ville: We are not afraid of the future'
A day of diverse and inspiring films made and hosted by the
Floating Cinema artists Nina Pope & Karen
Guthrie (aka Somewhere) over the last decade,
with a chance to meet them for informal discussion.
Nina & Karen began their collaboration as artists in 1996,
making innovative new media and interactive works including the
online proto-blog A Hypertext
Journal and creating the first live webcast of
work by artists, TV
swansong in 2002. Latterly they have made films
and large-scale public realm works including a garden close to the
2012 Olympics site, What Will the Harvest
Be?
In 2008 they were awarded the first Northern Art Prize for their
work.
2.00pm & 7.00pm
Artists' introduction, including rarely-seen film clips, early
works and shorts including Little
Deluxe Living, a film about the rural idyll shot in
the Lake District and Japan.
3.00pm Bata-ville: We are not
Afraid of the Future (2005) 93mins
Pope & Guthrie's audacious debut feature documentary sees them
lead an unorthodox coach trip of former workers from Bata shoe
factories in the UK all the way to the Czech Republic, to the
origins of the Bata shoe empire and its enigmatic and visionary
founder, Tomas Bata.
Premiered at the acclaimed Edinburgh International Film
Festival and screened widely including at Tate, Zlin Film Festival
and SXSW in the USA.
5.00pm Living with
the Tudors (2007) 83mins
After 4 years of participation in Kentwell Hall's epic Tudor
re-enactment, Pope & Guthrie gained access to film one of the
UK's most obsessive and secretive hobby groups as they spend their
summer entertaining visitors in their Tudor personas. This film
examines what kind of person seeks to escape to 1578 and why.
Premiered at SXSW in the USA and distributed by Soda (UK)
and Indiepix (USA)
Nr. Springfield Marina (towpath side) River Lee Navigation
Spring Hill E5 9BL
A social evening for sharing film work amongst the boating
community from Springfield Marina and the surrounding waterways.
This was a pecha kucha style screening evening of film shorts or
clips made by boaters.
Local waterways charity Thames21 worked with pupils at the
Central Foundation Girls School to create short films that
addressed the problems of litter and pollution in our
waterways.
A youth-orientated screening of Hackney community animations by
local animator Elizabeth Hobbs and Thames21/Central Foundation
Girls School ‘Rubbish Films’, addressed the problems of litter and
pollution in our waterways.
In addition we also screened a rolling programme of short
films:
The Nature of Laburnum Boat Club (2011)
2 min 20 sec by Elizabeth Hobbs
The Nature of Laburnum Boat Club is part animation, part live
action, made with young people during a day at Laburnum Boat Club
on the Regent’s Canal. Commissioned by the Floating Cinema.
The Nature of Bow, (2003) 3 mins by
Elizabeth Hobbs
The Nature of Bow is an animated record of the natural habitat of
Bow in East London. Made with Bow Age Concern Art Group,
commissioned by SPACE Studios for Bow Festival 2003.
Love Ducking (2011, 3 shorts total
7mins) by Milan Metthey
Three shorts looking at how technology can help reduce the gap
between species. In an attempt to try and seduce a female Mallard
duck, Metthey tries to export himself via technology into the ducks
world. Three tools are proposed to interact with the ducks in
various ways. One allows you to virtually swim with ducks, the
second one will gives you the possibility to hang out with a duck
to its scale and the third setup gives you the chance to share a
romantic dinner with a duck.
VAULT films (30mins) by Olympic
borough teenagers, featuring UK Olympic athletes from the past and
present.
Local waterways charity Thames21 has worked with pupils at the
Central Foundation Girls School in Bow to create short films that
address the problems of litter and pollution in our waterways:
Water Pollution and Thames 21, (2011)
2mins 21 sec
This was a chance to see and hear about work-in-progress from a
series of new short films by Somewhere, featuring local people as
you’ve never seen them before.
Alongside this new work we showed a programme of other
Olympic-related films - both by artists and documentary makers
including new work-in-progress from Neville Gabie's residency
inside the Olympic Park. As if that wasn't not enough, we also
screened some films of the Floating Cinema’s ‘Outsiders’ Guide
to the Olympic Park’ tours and documentation of the Ian Giles
performance from Docklands!
2.00pm & 7.00pm (Entry on the hour 12
places for each talk) Nina Pope will talk about Somewhere's new
work in progress, and show two short new films from Neville Gabie's
Olympic Park residency. Somewhere's Unexpected
Moments of Everyday Brillianceare short portrait films being shot
with reference to sports filming techniques but recording local
makers and craftspeople in close detail.
3.00pm - 6.00pm A rolling programme (turn
up any time, 12 places on board) including:
Timedby Mike Jones, a short
documentary on a swimmer from east London, with aspirations of
making the Olympic team for 2012
An outdoor screening of the acclaimed, locally-shot film
directed by Paul Kelly, What Have You Done Today Mervyn
Day? (50"00') - described as St
Etienne's ‘hymn to the East End’ (Telegraph
newspaper).
You can read a nice article by Sean O'Hagan about the film
project here.
Before the main screening we showed Night in
Hackney (16"09') Directed by Shehani
Fernando. "Night in London is a brief period of infinite
possibility" wrote the journalist and travel writer HV Morton in
the 1920s, and nowhere is this truer than in Hackney, this films
records from doors open until the dawn chorus.
Old Ford Lock, River Lee Navigation
Dace Road E3 2NN
Film Still from The Games (Dir. Hilary Powell Optimistic Productions)
This Open Thursady looked at how east London is changing and how
artists and film makers have recorded and interpreted the changes
of their local area immediately surrounding the Olympic
Park.
The films screened will include:
Dancing Voices (5"30') Dir.
Jevan Chowdhury, choreographer Jeanefer Jean Charles
Commissioned by Westfield Stratford City with East London Dance.
A short dance film that creatively showcases multiple dance styles
across East London, locations include the Westfield Stratford
City site, Eastbury Manor House, Trinity Buoy Wharf and The
Viewtube with styles from Bellydance to Bollywood.
This Was Forever (10"08') Prod. Mark
Aitken
A prize winning film from Mark Aitken and young film makers from
polkadotsonraindrops which follows the story of the Manor Garden
Allotments which struggled to hold their own before being
demolished in 2007 to make way for Olympic projects.
The
Games (16"50') Dir. Hilary Powell Optimistic Productions
A film shot in 2007 staging a surreal Olympics amid the sites set
to become the London 2012 Olympic Park.
Printed Matters (10"30')
Dir. Verity-Jane Keefe A
cinematic portrait of the process of print in Hackney
Wick
Night in Hackney (16"09') Dir.
Shehani Fernando
"Night in London is a brief period of infinite possibility" wrote
the journalist and travel writer HV Morton in the 1920s,
and nowhere is this truer than in Hackney, this films
records from doors open until the dawn chorus.
Memo Mori (23"00') Dir. Emily
Richardson with commentary and readings from
Hackney, That Red Rose Empire by Iain
Sinclair
Memo Mori is a journey through Hackney tracing loss and
disappearance. A canoe trip along the canal, the huts of the Manor
Garden allotments, demolition, relocation, a magical bus tour
through the Olympic park and a Hell’s Angel funeral mark a seismic
shift in the topography of East London. This film has been put
together from fragments of footage shot over 2006 - 2009, each
section being an event or observation of something that has been or
is about to be erased from the landscape. It has been woven
together with a commentary & readings by Iain Sinclair.
Two unique tours of the site led by comedian and writer
Susie Donkin (Smack the Pony, the
Bearded Ladies) who performed in character with
Jemima Burrill. The
combination of a start-up Olympic Cake company and ex-Olympic
swimmer proved to be almost too much ...
Free refreshments were served as part of their performance!
Writer, TV broadcaster and East London resident
Michael
Smith (BBC The Culture Show, Citizen
Smith, Drivetime) led two Olympic Park waterborne
tours, premiering his directorial debut - the short film 'Drift
Street' - aboard. This atmospheric film reveals the writer's
obsession with some of East London's neglected spaces. .
Comedian and performer Holly
Burncreated new live material to host 2
hilarious waterborne tours of the 2012 site. Posing as the
enthusiastic but inept hostess of the low-budget 2011 London
Olympics, passengers were required to go through a series of
no-frills Olympian challenges on board, from the Egg and Spoon Race
to Expressive Gymnastics to offering a urine sample.
The tour was topped off by the mass consumption of the Olympic
torch (in the form of a cake).
Acclaimed Hackney-based author Iain
Sinclair offered a poetic, alternative travelogue to
accompany 2 exclusive canal trips into the Olympic Park in the wake
of the publication of his recent book 'Ghost
Milk'
Iain layered images selected from an earlier guerilla kayak tour
into the Park with beguiling colonial sepia scenes, to which he
read from texts including Conrad's 'Heart of
Darkness', family and personal memoirs. Iain's
analogy between London's successive 'flawed grand plans' and the
search for El Dorado, the mythical city of fools' gold, ended with
a screening of film-maker Emily Richardson's
poignant 'Memo Mori', featuring
images of the demolitions preceding the creation of the 2012
Olympic Park.
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust's Waterhouse Restaurant
for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011 and on
Wednesday evening hosted a night with artist/film makers Andrea
Luka Zimmerman & Lasse Johansson - Fugitive Images.
Since 2009 the artist collaboration Fugitive Images has used
their home, Haggerston & Kingsland Estate, as a starting point
for a series of projects reflecting on the rapid changes taking
place in the local area. After years of neglect the estate has been
transformed into a flagship regeneration project. The old estate is
scheduled for complete demolition by 2012 only to immediately
reappear in a new guise; the mixed dwelling combining luxury flats
with social housing in a high-density development.
For this Floating Cinema event Fugitive Images screened some of
their short films shot on the estate during its slow 'shutting
down' and talked about their body of work including the striking
photo installation I AM HERE clearly visible from the canal.
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust's Waterhouse
Restaurant for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011. On
Tuesday evening films by animator Lizzy Hobbs, made
with the (very local) Laburnum
Boat Club, and members of the Bow Age Concern Art Group were
screened, offering a complimentary programme of films (both
animated and live action) made with a watery theme and a younger
audience in mind ...
London Waterways by Anna Best & Andrea Crociani, Photo: Nina Pope
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust's Waterhouse
Restaurant for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011 and on
Monday eveing hosted a Pecha Kucha style screening for the local
boating community.
This was a social evening for sharing film work amongst fellow
boaters aboard the Floating Cinema and a chance to informally share
work and talk about ideas ...
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust's Waterhouse
Restaurant for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011 and on
Sunday evening hosted an intimate screening of Emma-Louise
William's film Under
the Cranes (screenplay by Michael Rosen) which was
followed by a Q&A session with both Emma-Louise Williams
and Michael Rosen.
"A marvellous evocation of Hackney - the place, the peoples
and their dreams too. It reveals the ruin, disconnection and the
frailty of life without giving an inch to literary misanthropy or
the voyeuristic perspectives in which East London is exploited for
tales of misery, depravity and social failure. It manages to be
elegaic without being merely doleful. The combination of voice and
image is very nicely handled, and the archive footage is wonderful.
I was glad the film didn't resort to more polemical assaults on the
Olympics, legitimate as those may be. I think the film gains a lot
by not being too firmly located in that argument, not least the
possible realization that we all live 'under the cranes' these
days. A lot of the stories and locations were familiar - is that
Town Guide Cabinet really in the Hackney Museum now? - but I never
knew about the plastic!"
Patrick Wright (A Journey Through Ruins, On Living in an Old
Country)
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust's Waterhouse
Restaurant for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011, and
hosted expert film history tours with screen historian Ian Christie
(Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th) and featuring onboard artists'
film screenings each evening.
Shoreditch and East London on Screen with Ian
Christie
Cruising along the historic Regent's Canal from Mare Street
Bridge to City Basin, we travelled through cinema history, passing
close to some iconic film locations (Alfie, Smashing Time,
Dirty Pretty Things, Secrets and Lies), and the site of one of
Britain's first important film studios. At Gainsborough, Alfred
Hitchcock launched his career in the late 20s, Ivor Novello starred
as 'The Rat', and some classic WW2 films were made.
These tours started from Old Ford Lock, Regent’s
Canaland finished at the Waterhouse
Restaurant.
The Floating Cinema moored outside Shoreditch Trust’s Waterhouse
Restaurant for five days as part of Shoreditch Festival 2011, on
Saturday evening we showed two documentaries looking at the recent
history of the built environment - 'The Golden Age of Canals' &
'Utopia London'.
The 7.30pm screening of Utopia London was followed by a
Q&A with the director Tom Cordell in the Waterhouse
Restaurant for those disappointed to miss the Q&A you can now
hear it via a posting on the
Utopia London blog.
The Golden Age of Canals
6.00pm (60mins
shown in the Waterhouse Restaurant)
Narrated by Gina
McKee
Directed & Produced by David Parker
Most people thought that when the working traffic on canals
faded away after the war, that would be the end of their story. But
they were wrong. A few diehard enthusiasts and boat owners
campaigned, lobbied and dug, sometimes with their bare hands, to
keep the network of narrow canals open.
Some of these enthusiasts filmed their campaigns and their
home movies tell the story of how and in the teeth of almost
universal political opposition, they saved the inland waterways for
the nation and more than 200 years after they were first built,
created a second golden age of the canals.
Utopia London & Q&A 7.30 pm(82 mins shown in the Waterhouse
Restaurant & onboard the
cinema) Directed by Tom
Cordell
Utopia
London is a brand new feature length documentary
that explores London's recent architectural history. The film
observes the method and practise of the Modernist architects who
rebuilt London after World War Two. It shows how they
revolutionised life in the city in the wake of destruction from war
and the poor living conditions inherited from the Industrial
Revolution. This film is their story. Utopia London travels through
the recent history of the city where the film maker grew up. He
finds the architects who designed it and reunites them with the
buildings they created. These young idealists were once united
around a vision of using science and art to create a city of equal
citizens. Their architecture fused William Morris with urban
high-rise; ancient parkland with concrete. Utopia London examines
the, social and political agendas of the time in which the city was
rebuilt. The story goes on to explore how the meaning of these
transformative buildings has been radically manipulated over
subsequent decades. Inspired by the optimism of the past it poses
the question; where do we go from here and now?
'A Smaller Sound, A Bigger Crowd: A Film
Installation and Performance by Ian Giles telling the story of The
Docklands Bell’
This was a day of specially-commissioned performances by artist
Ian Giles aboard the Floating Cinema, in the heart of Canary Wharf,
produced in collaboration with the Live Art Development Agency
and the Canary Wharf Group. There were three performances
throughout the day with a film work on board the boat and
performers on the shore.
'A Smaller Sound, A Bigger Crowd' is a film in
3 parts which tells the story of Ian Giles' creation 'The
Docklands Bell' - the largest bell ever made it would be
rung to announce cargo ships leaving the docks. During World War
One bells were silenced and only rung to inform of invasions by
enemy troops. As metal was in short supply the Docklands Bell was
melted down to provide every church in England with a set of hand
bells. The single Docklands Bell became many smaller bells that
were played by a bigger crowd. After the war these small bells were
melted down again and sold has scrap, perhaps parts of the Dockland
Bell's metal have now returned to their home in the Docks.
The story is told in the style of radio drama, the 3 films track
the life of the Bell across the centuries. Footage was also shot at
Whitechapel Bell Foundry and on site in Canary Wharf.
Along the barge route, four hand bell ringers played on bridges
and paths, bringing both the story and surroundings to life. Ian
worked with award winning folk singer, Sam Lee to write
'The Ballad of the Docklands Bell' which he performed live during
the performances accompanied by Robin Grey.
Ian
Giles is an artist based in London. His work involves
performance as well as making films, sculpture and collages. He
often works with other creative people such as actors, musicians,
composers and cinematographers to develop his ideas.
His work has been exhibited widely, including: Whitstable
Biennale 2010, Barbican Art Gallery, London; ICA, London and
Paradise Row, London. He has had solo exhibitions at Studio
Warehouse Glasgow and Oriel Davies Gallery, Wales. Ian graduated BA
Fine Art Chelsea College of Art 2008. Future projects include a
residency at I-Park, Connecticut, USA and his work will be included
in a screening at Silverman Gallery, San Francisco.
A day of diverse film screenings inspired by London’s Docklands
and its environs which included:
London's
Olympic Waterscape(2010, 21mins)by Royal Holloway
University A fascinating look at the history and future of
London's inland
waterways
The King of Deptford
Creek (2009, 11mins) by Fred Rowson
An atmospheric and obsessive story of missing person shot on the
quiet backwaters of the Thames
Men of the City (2010, 59mins) by
Marc Isaacs (showing at 2.00pm 5.00pm &
7.00pm)
A meditation on the state of mind and motivations of men working in
diverse City roles
More details and DVD information here
The Floating Cinema moored up at CREATE Art Award winners
Assemble’s ‘Folly for
a Flyover’ for a day. As well as a drop-in screening
programme whilst moored, we hosted two guided graffiti tours from
the boat, with artist, curator and author Cedar
Lewisohn.
The Floating Cinema moored up at CREATE Art Award winners
Assemble's 'Folly for
a Flyover' project for the day. The Cinema hosted a drop-in
programme of canal related film shorts throughout the day.
Barging Through London (Again &
Again!) 1924, 1979 & 2011.
We screened Harry Parkinson's original made as
part of the Wonderful London series in 1924. A remake shot 55
years later in 1979 by John Huntley and Michael Essex-Lopresti
Plus Somewhere's new 2011 shot-for-shot remake created for the
Floating Cinema, with an original sound track by Tim and Matthew
Olden.
The archive footage was shown courtesy of the Huntley Film
Archives and Dr Michael Essex-Lopresti.
Boating in the 60's(5"05' Dir. Peter Gardner)
A lovely (silent)
family archive film including some impressive time-lapse sequences
shot from the front of their boat!
The Nature of Bow(2"20'
Dir.Lizzy Hobbs)
Following a day trip to the Bow Back Rivers, The Bow Age Concern
Art Group created pen and ink drawings of the birds and plants they
saw. Lizzy Hobbs has bought these to life beautifully through
traditional paper animation. Lizzy is also now making a new film
for the Floating Cinema with young people from the Laburnam Boat
Club.
Showing how artists and film makers have been inspired by and
recorded the waterways of east London and beyond, this
selection of themed films ranged from the poetic to the humorous to
the downright weird....
The day time session included the following on a drop-in
rolling programme: London Waterways (2003, 10mins) by
Anna Best & Andrea Crociani
Traum (2011,
16mins) by Martin
Hampton with music by Isambard
Khroustaliov Love Ducking (2011, 3 shorts total 7mins)
by Milan Metthey
Wellmen (2011, 8mins) by Lisa Ma
Boat Dreams (2010, 9mins) by Sasha Andrews The Pair (2010, 7mins) by Sasha Andrews
Night Stop Cinema (2000, 10mins) by Ella
Gibbs
This is documentation of Ella's cinema boat project made in 2000 as
part of The Week of Small Miracles her boat travelled along the
River Lea Valley.
From 6pm - 8pm:
Goth Cruise&Slap the Gondola!
Goth Cruise6.15pm (2008, 75mins)
by Jeanie
Finlay. Goth Cruise follows 150 pale, ‘people in black’ on
a boat, taking part in the absolute antithesis of Goth – a cruise
in the blazing sunshine, as they sail around Bermuda for five days
on the 4th Annual Goth Cruise.
Slap the Gondola!6.00pm
& 7.45pm (featuring the legendary Genesis P.Orridge)
(2009, 15mins) is by Marie Losier & brought to the Floating
Cinema by Artprojx. Musical with music,
musicians, muses and fishes. On a giant ferry, two mermaids play
violins to lure the fish when suddenly a giant fish lands on
board, joined by thirty dancers and a great singer April March. A
fish fight musical ensues!
We launched the Floating Cinema with our free
outdoor movie night of DJs, live music (featuring I am
The Mighty Jungulator), and water-themed films. There
was a huge turn out for the event and a really nice atmosphere
outside the Rowing Club near Springfield Park.
Inside the boat at twilight we showed:
VAULT films (30mins) by Olympic borough
teenagers, featuring UK Olympic athletes from the past and present,
with Boat Dreams (9mins) &
The Pair (8mins) by local boater and
film-maker Sasha Andrews.
After dark on the outdoor screen we showed:
Barging Through London
(Again) (10mins)
We screened Harry Parkinson's rare original (made as part of the
'Wonderful London' series in 1924) side-by-side with Somewhere's
new 2011 shot-for-shot remake (created for the Floating Cinema),
with a live score played by Tim and Matthew Olden.
