Last night at The Others in Stoke Newington saw perhaps the greatest (ever) gathering of artist film-makers in London since the heyday of the London Film-makers Co-op. The occasion was a specially curated programme of films to mark the publication Fields of View by A.L. Rees and celebrate the legacy of the great artist film writer and academic who sadly passed away in 2014.

It felt a great privilege to witness such a programme of 63 one-minute films, many made especially for Al to mark the occasion, organised by Simon Payne, Deniz Johns, and Andrew Vallance, with many, if not most, of the film-makers present. The programme notes state:
“Friends, colleagues and past students of Al Rees have contributed one-minute films and videos to celebrate his posthumous book Fields of View* and the spirit of the man who was an ardent supporter of experimental cinema. Many have made new pieces for the occasion and responded directly to key terms and ideas that they found in his writing.”

The programme included films by John Smith, Adam Kossoff, Amy Dickson, Emily Richardson, Esther Johnson, Guy Sherwin, William Raban, Cathy Rogers, Nicky Hamlyn, Suky Best, and Chris Welsby.
You can read the full programme notes here.

The video above is a short extract of Cathy’s Rogers’ film Radiator (yes Cathy is my sister) which required the 16mm projector to be turned onto its side, with the spools facing down.