British Surrealism was always a little apart from the rest, if only due to its often surprisingly sweet-natured fondness for ordinary life, combined with an unmatched political fury.
For Swandown, a disquieting mix of pastoral and agit-tract, Andrew Kötting – GB’s resident Surrealist master in all matters movie and beyond – teamed up with his neighbor, Iain Sinclair, one of Hackney’s (and by extension Blighty’s) major poets/novelists/essayists/performance artists. In the great Surrealist tradition of city walks, the duo embarked on a water trip from Hastings to London, using a swan pedalo. No wonder people talk candidly when approached by these two. And they have a lot to say about a nation Thatcherism’s New Labour offspring ruined – with the 2012 Olympics offering more proof of their evil than anybody asked for.
Film details
- Country of production
- United Kingdom
- Year
- 2012
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2015
- Length
- 94'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
