O Dreamland

The documentary was made in 1953 by Anderson and his camerman/assistant, John Fletcher, using a single 16mm camera and an audiotape recorder. The film was shelved until 1956 when Anderson included it as part of the first Free Cinema programme. The black-and-white film is a 12-minute exploration of the Dreamland funfair in Margate, Kent and has no commentary but is accompanied by background noises and music. Gavin Lambert, a key supporter of the Free Cinema movement, said of the film Everything is ugly... It is almost too much. The nightmare is redeemed by the point of view, which, for all the unsparing candid camerawork and the harsh, inelegant photography, is emphatically humane. Pity, sadness, even poetry is infused into this drearily tawdry, aimlessly hungry world. (wikipedia)