 |
 |
*** posted on behalf of Ellen Wright [log in to unmask] *** ________________________________ Exciting collaboration: A new partnership between the Royal Albert Hall (RAH) and De Montfort University’s award-winning Cinema and Television History (CATH) Research Centre means that for the first time, De Montfort University is to stage a series of events at the internationally-famous venue in London. The invitation came from the Hall when it learned that the CATH Centre was the custodian of the Peter Whitehead Archive. Whitehead, who has just celebrated his 80th birthday, was the film-maker whose camera documented life in so-called ‘Swinging London’ and watched the rise of the 1960s’ Counter-culture and political protest in Britain and America. Consequently, the RAH have decided to make Whitehead the centrepiece of this year’s ‘Summer of Love Revisited’ season The first of four CATH events will open the season on the evening of May Day in the RAH’s historic Elgar Room. This is the world premiere of the new HD restoration of Whitehead’s coruscating documentary Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London (1967). Taking its title from a line in a poem recited by Allen Ginsberg at the RAH Tonite is driven by the pulsing psychedelia of Pink Floyd and punctuated by interviews with Michael Caine, David Hockney, Mick Jagger, Julie Christie, and many other sixties’ ‘faces’. The restoration project has been a year in the making and is a collaboration between CATH, Whitehead, the BFI and the blu-ray releasing company, Network Distributing, whose MD, Tim Beddows, lives in Leicester. Whitehead’s 60 minute film was edited from hours of footage, and for the first time, much of this will be made available. CATH’s Director, Professor Steve Chibnall, will introduce the film with Tim Beddows and copies of the new blu-ray and of Whitehead’s novel of the same title will be on sale. Writer and cultural critic, Jon Savage, will be MC for the event, which will be produced and directed by the Co-curators of the Peter Whitehead Archive, Professor Steve Chibnall and Dr. Alissa Clarke http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2017/screening-tonite-lets-all-make-love-in-london/ The second event on the evening of 2nd May is dedicated to the early days of Pink Floyd. Whitehead photographed Syd Barrett and the band at London’s UFO Club and paid for them to record music for the Tonite film. His unique colour footage of live performance, recording studio work and the legendary ‘14 Hour Technicolor Dream’ at Alexandra Palace in April 1967 was edited to the two long improvisations recorded at Sound Techniques Studios and eventually released as Pink Floyd: London 1966-67. A screening of this half-hour film will be accompanied by talks from Joe Boyd, Pink Floyd’s producer at the time, and Syd Barrett’s childhood sweetheart, Jenny Spires, an important counterculture figure who was with Whitehead during the filming and instrumental in the use of Pink Floyd’s music. Among those also participating will be Anthony Stern, Whitehead’s Assistant Director, and Richard Dacre from the RAH’s archives department. The Peter Whitehead and Steve Chibnall Archives will also supply a small exhibition of Floyd-related material. The event will act as a curtain-raiser for the major Pink Floyd retrospective, ‘Their Mortal Remains’ at the neighbouring V&A Museum, opening on 13 May. Both events will mark the 50th anniversary of the famous ‘Games for May’ at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the concert that announced Pink Floyd as an important new musical force. Again, Jon Savage will be MC. The Producer and Director will be Steve Chibnall. http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2017/peter-whitehead-residency-pink-floyd-london-66-67/ The third event in the Elgar Room, on the afternoon of 7th May, will remember and re-imagine Peter Whitehead’s filming of the Poetry Incarnation that filled the RAH and kick-started the London Counter-culture in June 1965. That summer evening brought together the leading lights of American and European beat poetry, including Allen Ginsberg, Laurence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Christopher Logue and Adrian Mitchell. A screening of the resulting film, Wholly Communion (1966) will be accompanied by a reading by one the original performers from the 1965 event, Michael Horovitz, and new work commissioned from young poets and inspired by the Beat Generation. The afternoon will be staged as an immersive theatre event, recalling the atmosphere of the original, with the participation of De Montfort University drama students. It is also hoped to show Whitehead footage from the controversial 1966 RAH poetry reading that featured Vanessa Redgrave, Stevie Smith and Robert Graves, but this is yet to be confirmed by the BFI. The Producer and Director will be Alissa Clarke (Senior Lecturer in Drama at DMU) in collaboration with poetry impresario, Hammer and Tongues. http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2017/wholly-communion-featuring-michael-horovitz/ The fourth and final Elgar Room event will be ‘Icons at the Hall’ on the afternoon of 27th May. This will celebrate Peter Whitehead’s 62-year association with the RAH and include film he shot there of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The Led Zep concert dates from January 1970, and features a marvellous extended solo by Jimmy Page. We plan to screen Whitehead’s original, unrestored copy of the concert film. Our special guest will be the celebrated folk singer, Julie Felix, who was a familiar television face in the mid-1960s. Whitehead filmed Julie on three or four occasions, including a concert at Westminster Abbey and one at the RAH. Julie is kindly allowing us to screen her private copy of that 1966 RAH concert and has agreed to sing a few songs. RAH archivist, Richard Dacre, will look back on Whitehead’s long history at the hall he regarded as his favourite venue. The event will be produced and directed by Steve Chibnall and Alissa Clarke. http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2017/filming-the-game-changers-led-zeppelin-the-rolling-stones-julie-felix/ Tickets for these events are on sale from the RAH box-office. http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/dayplanner?DateRange=1493679599__1527721200 For further information, please contact Steve Chibnall: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> tel: 0116 2577320 Alissa Clarke: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> tel: 0116 2078953 Dr Ellen Wright VC2020 Lecturer in Cinema and Television History 1.13A Clephan Building De Montfort University Leicester ext: 7984 -------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA mailing list -------------------------------------------------------- To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the MECCSA list, please visit: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=MECCSA&A=1 ------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. This mailing list is a free service and is not restricted to members. It is an unmoderated list and content reflect the views of those who post to the list and not of MeCCSA as an organisation. MeCCSA recommends that the list be used only for posting of information (for example about events, publications, conferences, lectures) of interest to members or to promote discussion of current issues of wide general interest in the field. Posts to the MeCCSA mailing list are public, indexed by Google, and can be accessed from the JISCMail website (http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/meccsa.html). Any messages posted to the list are subject to the JISCMail acceptable use policy, which states that users should avoid engaging in unreasonable behaviour, or disrupting the general flow of discussion on a list. For further information, please visit: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/ --------------------------------------------------------