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London Diary

Description:

Written by Lorenza Mazzetti, the first woman film director ever to be funded by the BFI, London Diaries/Free Cinema is the unique story of the birth of Free Cinema in London. It describes the making of Together (1957), a neglected masterpiece of British Free Cinema. The book introduces key figures of Free Cinema, such as Lindsey Anderson, and outlines the struggle of a young Mazzetti to find her way in London.
Read more

Review

'Lorenza Mazzetti's London Diary, her memoir of coming to London from Italy in the chaos and brokenness of the years after the second world war, how she met both casual cruelty and unexpected kindnesses, and how a smattering of luck, bravado and good friendship forged the film-maker and artist she became. It transmits the terrible fracture and surreality of aftermath as only a real admirer of Kafka could.' --Ali Smith The Guardian

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Mazzetti developed her filmmaking skills alongside her friends and fellow filmmakers, who also took part in each other's projects. Together first screened as part of the Free Cinema collective programme.xiii According to Lindsay Anderson, this name was simply “a label of convenience”,xiv bait for the press that the young directors who founded the movement – Anderson, Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz and Mazzetti herself – used to promote a programme that included their recently completed experimental and documentary short and medium-length work. Limited resources not only meant that their work was unlikely to become commercially significant, it also dictated a makeshift and often sparse approach. In a statement used as programme notes for a subsequent Free Cinema screening in May 1957, 'Free Cinema 3', the committee argued that with funds and equipment as scant as theirs “You cannot make a feature film, and your possibilities to experiment are severely restricted. But you can use your eyes and ears. You can give indications. You can make poetry.”xv Following these principles, Mazzetti and her peers developed a fiercely independent family of film-thinkers, whose work blended a confessional mode with socially-minded, everyday observations. Free Cinema grouped without binding, suggesting unity without forcing it. The first screenings were held at London's National Film Theatre in February 1956 and, along with Mazzetti's Together, the programme included Anderson's O Dreamland and Momma Don't Allow, co-directed by Reisz and Richardson. The programme was met with great critical acclaim: its tangible 'independent' streak – the capacity to work outside the mainstream British film industry – was so well received that the movement came to signify, in Isabelle Gourdin-Sangouard's words, “a template for a transnational, transcultural approach to filmmaking”.xvi A lack of interest in plot-driven narratives is a common feature, along with modest subjects: a day at Margate's Dreamland amusement park; a regular Saturday evening at a north London jazz club. Lyricism is often conveyed through the use of non-verbal sounds: environmental noises, scraps of overheard conversations, or parts of music that were recorded live, but which do necessarily match the visuals. (In an article on Free Cinema, Christophe Dupin notes that before the 1960s synchronised sound recording would have been technically impossible to achieve outside a studio.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful memoir of young woman in post-war London and her rise to prominence as a film maker,

J. · 8 September 2023

For anyone wanting an insight into post-war London of the early fifties from a young Italian woman's perspective - this is required reading. Charting her experiences as she rose to fame as an avant-garde film-maker, she tells how she was helped by Lindsay Anderson and other filmmakers precursing the Kitchen Sink realism in film, drama, and writing.

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, authentic voice

R.S. · 17 November 2022

This book is a moving account by Lorenza Mazzetti of her struggle to deal with the trauma of her wartime experiences, and of the brief but wonderful few years when, with great courage, she found a way not only to survive in London but to find friends and discover her voice as an important artist during a remarkable flowering of filmmaking in the 1950s. An inspiring book for any young filmmaker today.

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming stories transforming misfortune into enchantment

M.S.H. · 5 May 2021

Light, funny, fascinating yet poignant - this slim volume reads like a conversation with a witty and insightful character. Her adventures and her chutzpa reveal such courage and humour. It is an artistic delight.

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved these Diaries!

s.j. · 8 August 2019

Lorenza Mazzetti a young Jewish Italian women , her parents dead , separated from her twin, her guardians & from her cousins massacred by the Nazis, charts her arrival in the alienating post- war fog of 50's London.Lorenza barely survives, with little money...but her idiosyncratic determination & vision opens doors to a creative future..Determinedly she walks through the doors of the Slade citing her 'Genius' !...begs , borrows and steals the wherewithal to cast & shoot her first film' K 'about her 'God'' Kafka.Slade principle Willian Coldstream, hauling her up for theft & threatening prison, decides to view the film, so, suitably impressed by her talent, and the other students reaction, instead introduces her to Dennis Foreman & the world of the BFI. ....the rest is too be read!The fascinating making of her film 'Together' about 2 deaf mute friends ..extraneous to society, wandering through the bombed out dereliction of the East End...is a film that highlights ordinary people with respect and humanity.This is a film that wins Mazzetti awards and brings her together with Lindsay Anderson , Karel Reiss and Tony Richardson to form Woodfall films. (and Free Cinema)This is a compulsive read. Evocative descriptions of 50's london , short paragraphs , elliptic sentences and dream sequences that play with time, as she slowly comes to terms with her devastating past and creates her future.An extraordinary journey of female courage.

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary tale of survival and achievement

A.E. · 11 October 2018

Lorenza Mazzetti came to London in 1951 after her family were killed by the Nazis at the end of the 2nd WW.Her struggle to survive is beautifully and poetically reprised in this marvelous diary. Penniless she worked in cafes, got herself into the Slade Art School, and became the first woman to ever get a BFI grant to make a film. The book records both the traumas and the triumphs of making your way in a foreign country, and reflects on the powerful hold that history exerts on an individual, and how a new destiny can be created. Beautifully written it is a gem that has been hidden for a long time. (This is the first English publication of the book).

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London Diary

Product ID: K0956267858
Condition: New

4.7

AED9284

Price includes VAT & Import Duties
Type: Paperback
Availability: In Stock

Quantity:

|

Order today to get by 7-14 business days

Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.

Returns & Warranty policies

Imported From: United Kingdom

At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.

BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.

If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.

Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.

All product information, images, descriptions, and reviews originate from the manufacturer or from trusted sellers overseas. BOLO is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an authorized retailer for most brands listed on our website unless stated otherwise.

While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.

Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.

BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.

All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.

All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.

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Visit the Zidane Press Store

London Diary

Product ID: K0956267858
Condition: New

4.7

London Diary-0
Type: Paperback

AED9284

Price includes VAT & Import Duties
Availability: In Stock

Quantity:

|

Order today to get by 7-14 business days

Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.

Returns & Warranty policies

Imported From: United Kingdom

At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.

BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.

If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.

Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.

All product information, images, descriptions, and reviews originate from the manufacturer or from trusted sellers overseas. BOLO is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an authorized retailer for most brands listed on our website unless stated otherwise.

While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.

Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.

BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.

All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.

All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.

Description:

Written by Lorenza Mazzetti, the first woman film director ever to be funded by the BFI, London Diaries/Free Cinema is the unique story of the birth of Free Cinema in London. It describes the making of Together (1957), a neglected masterpiece of British Free Cinema. The book introduces key figures of Free Cinema, such as Lindsey Anderson, and outlines the struggle of a young Mazzetti to find her way in London.
Read more

Review

'Lorenza Mazzetti's London Diary, her memoir of coming to London from Italy in the chaos and brokenness of the years after the second world war, how she met both casual cruelty and unexpected kindnesses, and how a smattering of luck, bravado and good friendship forged the film-maker and artist she became. It transmits the terrible fracture and surreality of aftermath as only a real admirer of Kafka could.' --Ali Smith The Guardian

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Mazzetti developed her filmmaking skills alongside her friends and fellow filmmakers, who also took part in each other's projects. Together first screened as part of the Free Cinema collective programme.xiii According to Lindsay Anderson, this name was simply “a label of convenience”,xiv bait for the press that the young directors who founded the movement – Anderson, Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz and Mazzetti herself – used to promote a programme that included their recently completed experimental and documentary short and medium-length work. Limited resources not only meant that their work was unlikely to become commercially significant, it also dictated a makeshift and often sparse approach. In a statement used as programme notes for a subsequent Free Cinema screening in May 1957, 'Free Cinema 3', the committee argued that with funds and equipment as scant as theirs “You cannot make a feature film, and your possibilities to experiment are severely restricted. But you can use your eyes and ears. You can give indications. You can make poetry.”xv Following these principles, Mazzetti and her peers developed a fiercely independent family of film-thinkers, whose work blended a confessional mode with socially-minded, everyday observations. Free Cinema grouped without binding, suggesting unity without forcing it. The first screenings were held at London's National Film Theatre in February 1956 and, along with Mazzetti's Together, the programme included Anderson's O Dreamland and Momma Don't Allow, co-directed by Reisz and Richardson. The programme was met with great critical acclaim: its tangible 'independent' streak – the capacity to work outside the mainstream British film industry – was so well received that the movement came to signify, in Isabelle Gourdin-Sangouard's words, “a template for a transnational, transcultural approach to filmmaking”.xvi A lack of interest in plot-driven narratives is a common feature, along with modest subjects: a day at Margate's Dreamland amusement park; a regular Saturday evening at a north London jazz club. Lyricism is often conveyed through the use of non-verbal sounds: environmental noises, scraps of overheard conversations, or parts of music that were recorded live, but which do necessarily match the visuals. (In an article on Free Cinema, Christophe Dupin notes that before the 1960s synchronised sound recording would have been technically impossible to achieve outside a studio.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful memoir of young woman in post-war London and her rise to prominence as a film maker,

J. · 8 September 2023

For anyone wanting an insight into post-war London of the early fifties from a young Italian woman's perspective - this is required reading. Charting her experiences as she rose to fame as an avant-garde film-maker, she tells how she was helped by Lindsay Anderson and other filmmakers precursing the Kitchen Sink realism in film, drama, and writing.

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, authentic voice

R.S. · 17 November 2022

This book is a moving account by Lorenza Mazzetti of her struggle to deal with the trauma of her wartime experiences, and of the brief but wonderful few years when, with great courage, she found a way not only to survive in London but to find friends and discover her voice as an important artist during a remarkable flowering of filmmaking in the 1950s. An inspiring book for any young filmmaker today.

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming stories transforming misfortune into enchantment

M.S.H. · 5 May 2021

Light, funny, fascinating yet poignant - this slim volume reads like a conversation with a witty and insightful character. Her adventures and her chutzpa reveal such courage and humour. It is an artistic delight.

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved these Diaries!

s.j. · 8 August 2019

Lorenza Mazzetti a young Jewish Italian women , her parents dead , separated from her twin, her guardians & from her cousins massacred by the Nazis, charts her arrival in the alienating post- war fog of 50's London.Lorenza barely survives, with little money...but her idiosyncratic determination & vision opens doors to a creative future..Determinedly she walks through the doors of the Slade citing her 'Genius' !...begs , borrows and steals the wherewithal to cast & shoot her first film' K 'about her 'God'' Kafka.Slade principle Willian Coldstream, hauling her up for theft & threatening prison, decides to view the film, so, suitably impressed by her talent, and the other students reaction, instead introduces her to Dennis Foreman & the world of the BFI. ....the rest is too be read!The fascinating making of her film 'Together' about 2 deaf mute friends ..extraneous to society, wandering through the bombed out dereliction of the East End...is a film that highlights ordinary people with respect and humanity.This is a film that wins Mazzetti awards and brings her together with Lindsay Anderson , Karel Reiss and Tony Richardson to form Woodfall films. (and Free Cinema)This is a compulsive read. Evocative descriptions of 50's london , short paragraphs , elliptic sentences and dream sequences that play with time, as she slowly comes to terms with her devastating past and creates her future.An extraordinary journey of female courage.

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary tale of survival and achievement

A.E. · 11 October 2018

Lorenza Mazzetti came to London in 1951 after her family were killed by the Nazis at the end of the 2nd WW.Her struggle to survive is beautifully and poetically reprised in this marvelous diary. Penniless she worked in cafes, got herself into the Slade Art School, and became the first woman to ever get a BFI grant to make a film. The book records both the traumas and the triumphs of making your way in a foreign country, and reflects on the powerful hold that history exerts on an individual, and how a new destiny can be created. Beautifully written it is a gem that has been hidden for a long time. (This is the first English publication of the book).

More from this brand

Similar items from “Documentaries”

Share with

Or share with link

https://www.bolo.ae/products/K0956267858