BFI introduction:
Initially conceived as a sequel to The Nightcleaners (1975) by the Berwick Street Film Collective, ’36 to ’77 is a deeply reflective film-portrait of former cleaner, Myrtle Wardally, who, alongside the Women’s Liberation Workshop, was involved in the struggle to unionise the night cleaners of London. This event marks a new publication on both films (Koenig Books/Raven Row), which includes digital scans, commissioned texts and archival material. ‘To view ’36 to ’77 today... is to be confronted by its continued capacity to confound the expectations brought by critically minded spectators to the promise and purpose of political documentary produced during the 1970s’ – Kodwo Eshun. The film will be followed by the surviving directors.
Time Out review:This curious movie began life as Nightcleaners 2 by the Berwick Street Collective, and ended up as a kind of portrait of a Grenadan woman called Myrtle Wardally (born in 1936 - hence the title), credited to four members of the former Collective. Ms Wardally was a leader of the Cleaners' Action Group strike in Fulham in 1972, and she here reminisces about the limited success of that campaign, but also describes her childhood in Grenada and speaks about her present life. There is rigorous separation of sound and image throughout, to the extent that the film is less about social politics than about the politics of film-form. There are visual recollections from Nightcleaners,but most of the image-track comprises shots of Ms Wardally's face, frames frozen and then slowly animated, out of synch with her words. Curious.
Tony Rayns
Here (and above) is an extract from 'Nightcleaners'.
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