E1 '75 (2)
1/2 inch open-reel videotape Black & White Sound 1975 32:59
Summary: Footage of the E1 Festival 1975 features celebratory outdoor events in Stepney, East London. The E1 Festival was a community run event that took place throughout the 1970s on vacant land in Stepney, East London. Originally set up to raise money for the Junior Football League, it was a weekend long event of music, performing arts, stalls, and activities for people of all ages.
Title number: 21170
LSA ID: LSA/27866
Description: The black-and-white handheld video features various games, events, competitions happening on a field in Stepney. We see children, adults, and emergency hospital workers. First, we see a performance by mimes, which involves a silly skit about Roberto, a caricatured Italian figure. Another mime breaks a wooden plank with a sledgehammer over Roberto’s chest. In other footage, we see children jumping on a bouncy castle. The person behind the camera speaks directly to a young Black child with a balloon, telling him that he is taking a photograph. The song ‘Oh Boy’ by Mud can be heard as the camera zooms in on various signs – ‘Basement Writers’, ‘Miss Tower Hamlets 1975’, and ‘For Sports, For the Future’.
The video records the various games taking place on the field: from target ball games, to target a carnival dunk game. Then, we see a body-building competition, with various men on stage, shirtless, flexing. Throughout the competition, we can hear ‘Superman’ by the Commodores with a crowd of about 100 onlookers. During the prize-giving ceremony, a woman jokes, “Let’s just hope they can perform that well in bed.” The camera then turns to the ‘Alternative Arts’ stage and a ‘West Indian Food’ stall, before cutting away to a volleyball match.
Credits: Basement Project (Producer)
Keywords: games; Music; E1 Festival; Community Event
Locations: Stepney, East London
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