HippFest forays out of the silent era with a special screening of this dialogue-free film made without synchronised sound by pioneering, Italian-born Lorenza Mazzetti, part of the British ‘Free Cinema’ movement, whose manifesto celebrated ‘freedom’ for filmmakers from orthodoxy and conservatism. The film is a refreshing and sometimes moving slice of everyday working-class life, set in London’s East End. It follows two deaf-mute dockers in the midst of the wary, hearing community. Mazzetti cast the then unknown, 32-year-old Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi in the lead. He relished his role, modelling his performance on Marlon Brando!
Dir. Lorenza Mazzetti | UK | 1956 | b&w | 52m + intro and Q&A | cert. PG
With: Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Andrews
Commission made possible by funding from the Community Schools 2008 Charity
In partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute Edinburgh