Not a Penny on the Rent (1969, 22 mins)
A campaign film against GLC attempts to raise council rents that includes footage of tenants' demonstrations, meetings where reports are given on tenants withholding rents in protest and the burning of an effigy of Horace Cutler, the Tory leader of GLC.
London Transport (1969, 6 mins)
A short documentary supporting strikers at Acton tube depot.
White Paper (1969, 5 mins)
A silent campaign film using animation and stills against the Labour government’s 1969 anti-union ‘In Place of Strife’.
GEC1 (1970, 8 mins)
A film in support of the call by GEC Merseyside stewards for factory occupation by GEC workers.
Squatters (1969-70, 17 mins)
A campaign film supporting London squatters resisting eviction by private landlords and the GLC, shot in Camden, Kensington and Ilford, with footage highlighting housing conditions, squatters barricading themselves in and illegal evictions initiated by the GLC, all combining to suggest that the squatters' struggle should be linked to the building workers' fight to take over their industry.
Vauxhall (1970, 8 mins)
A half-silent, partly animated campaign film against the introduction of Measured Day Work at the company.
Us All (1970, 12 mins)
A short documentary on a wage dispute mounted by members of the draughtsmans’ union, DATA, at Rolls Royce in Coventry.
Fighting the Bill (1970, 36 mins)
A document of the massive trade union and labour movement campaign against the Conservative government’s Industrial Relations Bill that uses graphics, stills and library film to set the conflict in the context of an international fight against capitalism and the long history of trade union struggle in Britain. After a screening of Fighting the Bill outside the Albert Hall, police raided Cinema Action’s premises and members Richard Mordaunt, Marc Karlin and Humphrey Trevelyan split to form Berwick Street Collective.
Part of So That You Can Live: The Oppositional Films of Cinema Action
Also showing as part of this season: Films from the Clyde, Shorts (1972-1975), People of Ireland, The Miners' Film, So That You Can Live
With thanks to Chris Reeves at Platform Films
Presented by Wavelength
F: facebook.com/wavelengthdocs
T: @wavelengthdocs
dir. Cinema Action
year: 1969-70
country: UK
total run-time: 96 minutes
Doors 5:45
Film 6:15
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
“Independent cinema in Britain is unthinkable without the achievements of the innovative film collective Cinema Action”