Nightcleaners ; '36 to '77
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Nightcleaners (1975), by the Berwick Street Film Collective, has long been recognized as a landmark of British experimental cinema. Alongside its companion film '36 to '77 (1978), it pioneered a form as radical as the Collective's politics. The Berwick Street Film Collective was formed in 1970 and produced feature documentaries until around 1980. Influenced in part by filmmakers such as Godard and Marker, its films dealt with some of the major political issues of the day. Nightcleaners and '36 to '77 chronicle one of the key campaigns of the women's movement in the 1970s: the campaign to unionize women night cleaners in London, which anticipated contemporary issues regarding precarious labor. This two-volume boxset contains the two films on DVDs, plus two books featuring news sheets of the women's movement (one designed by Mary Kelly, a member of the Collective with whom an interview is also included), rare illustrations and contributions from the filmmakers.
Credits
Berwick Street Collective (artist); Dan Kidner (editor); Alex Sainsbury (editor); Marc Karlin (filmmaker); Sanders, Jon, 1943- filmmaker; Scott, James, 1941- filmmaker; Humphry Trevelyan (filmmaker)
Complete catalog record
Alternate title: Nightcleaners | '36 to '77 | Thirty-six to seventy-seven | Nightcleaners (Motion picture) | '36 to '77 (Motion picture)
Original source: Title from colophon sheet. | Nightcleaners and '36 to '77 are distributed by LUX for public theatrical and exhibition screenings. | Nightcleaners: full screen (4:3) ; '36 to '77: wide screen (16:9) | Nightcleaners was scanned at 2k and graded at the Film Room, Pinewood, using 16mm print courtesy of the BFI National Archive. '36 to '77 was scanned at 2k at UPP, Prague, from original negative courtesy of the BFI National Archive, and was graded by Damien Barnecutt. Audio restoration for both films: John Cohen and Jon Sanders. | "Book 1 includes commissioned essays by Kodwo Eshun, Dan Kidner, Sheila Rowbotham, Sukhdev Sandhu, and Humphry Trevelyan, plus a new interview with Mary Kelly, excerpts of interviews with Marc Karlin and from James Scott's Nightcleaners production diary (1972). Book 2 contains facsimiles, including an issue of Shrew (1971), the publication of the Women’s Liberation Workshop (this issue designed by Mary Kelly and dedicated to the cleaners’ struggle); excerpts from Red Rag (1973) and Spare Rib (1975); newsletters of the Cleaners Actions Group (1971); and a 1977 transcript of Nightcleaners" -- Publisher website.
Release: London : Raven Row : LUX : Koenig Books Ltd at the Serpentine Gallery, [2018]
Physical description: 2 videodiscs (90 min. and 94 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 colophon sheet, 2 books, in box 32 x 22 x 3 cm | 4 3/4 in. | monochrome | polychrome | PAL | video file | DVD video | Region 0
Contents: Contents: [Disc 1]. Nightcleaners / Berwick Street Film Collective (1975 ; 90 min.) -- [Disc 2]. '36 to '77 / Marc Karlin, Jon Sanders, James Scott and Humphry Trevelyan (1978 ; 94 min.) -- [Book 1]. Nightcleaners ; '36 to '77 / edited by Dan Kidner and Alex Sainsbury -- [Book 2.] Cleaners voice / The Cleaners Action Group.
Subjects: Women cleaning personnel -- England -- London | Cleaning personnel -- Labor unions -- England -- London | Labor unions -- Organizing -- England -- London | Wages -- Cleaning and dyeing industry -- England -- London | Cleaning personnel -- Labor unions | Labor unions -- Organizing | Wages -- Cleaning and dyeing industry | Women cleaning personnel | England -- London
Language note: Both films are in English with optional English subtitles.
Ucla location: Instructional Media Library Stacks DVD | ID22646
Original source: Title from colophon sheet. | Nightcleaners and '36 to '77 are distributed by LUX for public theatrical and exhibition screenings. | Nightcleaners: full screen (4:3) ; '36 to '77: wide screen (16:9) | Nightcleaners was scanned at 2k and graded at the Film Room, Pinewood, using 16mm print courtesy of the BFI National Archive. '36 to '77 was scanned at 2k at UPP, Prague, from original negative courtesy of the BFI National Archive, and was graded by Damien Barnecutt. Audio restoration for both films: John Cohen and Jon Sanders. | "Book 1 includes commissioned essays by Kodwo Eshun, Dan Kidner, Sheila Rowbotham, Sukhdev Sandhu, and Humphry Trevelyan, plus a new interview with Mary Kelly, excerpts of interviews with Marc Karlin and from James Scott's Nightcleaners production diary (1972). Book 2 contains facsimiles, including an issue of Shrew (1971), the publication of the Women’s Liberation Workshop (this issue designed by Mary Kelly and dedicated to the cleaners’ struggle); excerpts from Red Rag (1973) and Spare Rib (1975); newsletters of the Cleaners Actions Group (1971); and a 1977 transcript of Nightcleaners" -- Publisher website.
Release: London : Raven Row : LUX : Koenig Books Ltd at the Serpentine Gallery, [2018]
Physical description: 2 videodiscs (90 min. and 94 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 colophon sheet, 2 books, in box 32 x 22 x 3 cm | 4 3/4 in. | monochrome | polychrome | PAL | video file | DVD video | Region 0
Contents: Contents: [Disc 1]. Nightcleaners / Berwick Street Film Collective (1975 ; 90 min.) -- [Disc 2]. '36 to '77 / Marc Karlin, Jon Sanders, James Scott and Humphry Trevelyan (1978 ; 94 min.) -- [Book 1]. Nightcleaners ; '36 to '77 / edited by Dan Kidner and Alex Sainsbury -- [Book 2.] Cleaners voice / The Cleaners Action Group.
Subjects: Women cleaning personnel -- England -- London | Cleaning personnel -- Labor unions -- England -- London | Labor unions -- Organizing -- England -- London | Wages -- Cleaning and dyeing industry -- England -- London | Cleaning personnel -- Labor unions | Labor unions -- Organizing | Wages -- Cleaning and dyeing industry | Women cleaning personnel | England -- London
Language note: Both films are in English with optional English subtitles.
Ucla location: Instructional Media Library Stacks DVD | ID22646
Sources
- UCLA Library Catalog · record ↗ — title, creator, length, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record
Record added 2026-11-08 20:56:12