Following its critically acclaimed preview screening a couple of weeks back, Swandown returns to the Cornerhouse. Part of the Abandon Normal Devices festival programme, this film follows two men on a journey from Hastings through the waterways of the south coast to the site of the upcoming Olympic games. In a swan-shaped pedalo. But this is no wacky BBC Three documentary, thanks to heart-warming moments of beauty, undercut by scenes of urban London’s grit and filth. A portrait of modern England, if you like, highlighted by the eccentricity of the project and its two creators, Andrew Kotting and Ian Sinclair. Throughout the journey, they rope in a cast of celebrity friends. The star, however, is Edith the pedalo. This buddy movie of sorts aims to question homogeny and the impact of the London games on a community who didn’t get to choose whether it happened on their doorstep or not. It does so inventively.
Fri 20 Jul – Thu 26 Jul, Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, M1 5NH, Tel: 0161 200 1500, www.cornerhouse.org
- Words:
- Joe Daly
- Published on:
- Tue 17 Jul 2012
