On February 23 2010 Screen Edge will issue the Outsiders series of rare films. Included is Dressing For Pleasure: The Films of John Samson.
For years John Samson (1946-2004) has been the best kept secret in British documentary film-making. The five films he made in the period 1973 to 1983, collected here for the first time, are exemplary - once he had touched a subject, it was very difficult for other film-makers to follow. His aesthetic was to capture poetics, and to pull themes through a central metaphor. His technique was to hand over the storytelling to the persons he was interviewing - so his films represent the highlight of factual film-making that is delivered without voice-over commentary. Samson's working class roots and passionate interest in radical politics and bohemia fueled what would turn out to be a life-long fascination with individuals and groups operating at the margins of society. His subjects are people with unusual lives and obsessions, luminal figures who fail to square neatly with the models for identity and behavior propagated by contemporary culture. This unique collection pulls together the complete works of John Samson and demonstrates the vision of a brilliant director whose genius is only now beginning to be recognized.
1. Tattoo (1975) - 20 mins - Based on the art of tattooing, tattoo artists and their clients, with interviews exploring this fascination.
2. Dressing For Pleasure (1977) - 25 mins - Here the subject of fetishism in clothing - rubber, latex, leather - is explored. Features SEX, the boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivien Westwood on the Kings Road, London.
3. Britannia (1978) - 20 mins - A group of volunteers work on the restoration of an old locomotive.
4. Arrows (1979) - 33 mins - A film about the world of competitive darts.
5. The Skin Horse (1983) - 52 mins - Focusing on the Outsiders Club, a dating agency for disabled people, it deconstructs popular imagery of the handicapped to show how they are either abused or patronised, portrayed as monsters or as children
DVD:
amazon.com
Also released are:
Champions: The Films Of Mike Wallington
Walking On Water: The Films Of Steve Stevenson
DVD
Linear Mode
DVD