Cross

John Du Cane’s rarely shown films are amongst the most pure and radical of their period. In Cross, he uses the drawing of a cross (made without lifting the pencil) as a model for the camera movements and a score for the film. “The films are very physical, they are polyrhythmic and they are patterned in a manner designed to create a very definite way of seeing, of experiencing ... The films are silent to the extent that there is no soundtrack ... I believe films’ light capable of creating sound ... the films are there to be listened to. They are there to be felt." (John Du Cane)

Founded in 1966, the London Film-Makers’ Co-operative started life at Better Books, a counter-culture bookshop on Charing Cross Road, where a group led by poet Bob Cobbing and filmmakers Stephen Dwoskin and Jeff Keen met to screen films. Initially inspired by the activities of the New American Cinema Group in New York, the London Co-op grew into a pioneering organisation that incorporated a film workshop, cinema space and distribution office. During its four-decade history, the Co-op played a crucial role in establishing film as an art form in the UK and participated in a vibrant international film scene. This BFI Player collection brings together new scans of films distributed by and/or produced at the London Co-op.