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Salt Water
Reflections in fish tanks in the windows of restaurants in Chinatown, San Francisco.
Overview
Reflections in fish tanks in the windows of restaurants in Chinatown, San Francisco, accompanied by sounds of foghorns, passers-by, dining and breaking waves. Shot on Super 8, the images oscillate between abstraction, documentary portrait and poetry, with the fish coming in and out of focus, whilst the sound provides a grounding in the setting of San Francisco’s harbour and nearby Chinatown.
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.
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