Films are collective achievements. In this month's Magical History Tour we are showing films that highlight this collective work. This includes films made by groups that are only loosely connected to each other, as well as by collectives that reject the idea of individual authorship. These film collectives, which mostly emerged from political and social movements, wanted to create an anti-discourse with their work. They wanted to breach hierarchies and authorities and use film as a means of education and agitation, open to as many people as possible, especially those without power. The plurality of voices also plays an aesthetic role and is reflected in the enjoyment taken from experimentation and disparate forms. An incomplete insight into collective filmmaking is provided by films which date from the 1920s (the Factory of the Eccentric Actor) to today.

During the political events that took place in 1968 and the big workers' strikes in France, workers themselves took hold of the camera. We are showing a program with films by the Besançon and Sochaux Medvedkine workers' collectives: Nouvelle société N°5, 6, 7 (1969-70), Sochaux 11 juin 68 (1970), Les Trois Quarts de la vie (1971). Rhodia 4x8 (1969) is a "music video" for the class struggle. Scène de grève en Vendée (Paul Bourron, 1973) shows female workers on strike. Away from the conveyor belts and the obligation to clock in and out, they discover that they can talk and sing with each other.

The Black Audio Film Collective, which was founded in 1982 and existed until 1998, was an important voice in the debate on representation policy that took place in 1980s Britain. Its documentaries combined politics with the enjoyment taken from experimenting with form. Handsworth Songs (John Akomfrah, 1986) is a multi-voice film essay that came out of the 1985 riots in Handsworth, Birmingham and London. A mosaic of images, sounds, archive material, footage of the riots and old family photos results in a multi-perspective collage.

Featured Works:

Nowy Wawilon (The New Babylon, Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, 1929); Deux Fois (Jackie Raynal, 1968, pictured); Nouvelle société N°5 (Groupe Medvedkine 1969); Nouvelle société N°6 (Groupe Medvedkine 1969/70); Rhodia 4x8 (Groupe Medvedkine, 1969); Nouvelle société N°7 (Groupe Medvedkine, 1970); Sochaux 11 juin 68 (Groupe Medvedkine, 1970); Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Beware of a Holy Whore, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1970-1971); Femminista di Cinema, 1971); L'aggettivo donna (Rony Daopoulos and Annabella Miscuglio, with the Collettivo Femminista di Cinema, 1971); Les Trois Quarts de la vie (Groupe Medvedkine, 1971); Scène de grève en Vendée (Paul Bourron, 1973); Züri brännt (Zurich Is Burning, 1980-1981); Handsworth Songs (John Akomfrah, 1986); Killer.berlin.doc (Bettina Ellerkamp and Jörg Heitmann, 1999); A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (Esther B. Robinson, 2007)

Program information:

Cinema in the Plural: Collectives, Groups and Factories