BRIGHTON: SYMPHONY OF A CITY

This modern take on the ‘city symphony’ is a striking portrait of British coastal town of Brighton in music and images. A vibrant score by composer Ed Hughes, animates daily activities and extraordinary events from dawn to dusk, wittily echoing the silent classic, Berlin Symphony of a City (1927). All-weather bathers plunge into winter seas at sunrise. Residents work, commute, flirt and play and do surprising things in their offices. Bohemian, queer and activist pasts and presents cross-fade. Homelessness and gentrification collide. Moving through the day we glimpse forgotten attractions in sparkling amateur movies from Screen Archive South East. ‘Father Neptune’ is dunked in a raucous ritual from 1951; 1930s marchers celebrate the anniversary of the Soviet Union and modern protestors commemorate Gaza. The elegant ferris Wheel, a present day icon destined for destruction, marks the passage of time. The day culminates in night-time revelry, astounding puppetry and the winter solstice festival, ‘The Burning of the Clocks’. A kaleidoscopic view of this unique seaside town, where the everyday and the carnivalesque are thrown into relief through the striking textures, rhythms and tones of music and montage.

DIR: LIZZIE THYNNE, 45 MINUTES, UK 2016@BrightonCitySyml.thynne@sussex.ac.uk