Double Feature: WINSTANLEY & IT HAPPENED HERE November 12, 2010

Double Feature: WINSTANLEY, 1975, Milestone Films, 95 min. Dir. Kevin Brownlow. Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo continue their effort to reshape the way movies look at history in this portrait of Gerrard Winstanley and his nonviolent attempts to start a commune in 1649 Surrey. Once again, Brownlow and Mollo strive for period authenticity on every level, and this, combined with the silent film techniques they employ, give WINSTANLEY a quality that is simultaneously realistic and otherworldly - it's like a science fiction film set in the past instead of the future. [35mm]

IT HAPPENED HERE, 1965, Milestone Films, 93 min. In this thought-provoking piece of speculative filmmaking, directors Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo imagine what England would have been like in 1944 if Germany had successfully invaded and occupied the country at the beginning of WWII. Brownlow's obsessive attention to detail (he worked on the film for years before bringing military scholar Mollo on) and bold use of real-life fascists and Nazi sympathizers make this a riveting work - and one that was not properly seen in its unedited form for decades. [35mm]
Introduction by director and archivist Kevin Brownlow, who is receiving an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s Governors Award.

Trailer