CENTRAL BAZAAR - DVD

CENTRAL BAZAAR
A film by Stephen Dwoskin

Director, artist and advocate of independent film, Stephen Dwoskin, gathered a group of strangers together for a period of five weeks and filmed them as they explored their fantasies within a single room. The extraordinary results are documented in this visually lush experimental film.

Inspired by the post-hippy encounter groups that developed on America's West Coast, this poetic precursor to TV's Big Brother explores the relationship between intimacy and performance, often to extreme effect. Men and women don make-up, stockings and ceremonial gowns while emotional and physical interactions form and rupture, pushing some participants to their very limits.

Through his involving camerawork and dynamic use of sound - including a compelling drone score by celebrated composer Gavin-Bryars - Dwoskin creates a truly unique film that drives us to examine our own sense of 'fantasy' and to question our relationships to both other people and the film itself.

Special features

• New High - Definition transfer created from newly restored film elements
• Laboured Party (1974, 20 mins), Dwoskin's on-set companion piece to Central Bazaar in which an unsuspecting Labour Party canvasser calls at the house and falls under the provocative and playful influence of the feature film's participants
• Fully illustrated booklet with contributions from Jonas Mekas, Paul Willemen and William Fowler

UK | 1975 | colour | French language | 142 minutes | DVD-9 | Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 | Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps) | Region 2 DVD