Newsreel 1

This lightly abstract cine-poem from DJ-turned-director Alex Reuben examines musicality in London life by capturing people joining together in song. So there’s a good ol’ cockney knees-up in a pub, a brass band playing ‘Sweet Dreams’ in an east London courtyard, drumming at a protest and an anti-war dance in the Barbican lobby. Influenced as much by Patrick Keiller  (‘London’) as by early silent footage of life in the capital, Reuben has a knack for giving everyday situations a vibrant pulse. This was filmed and edited close to release (the version we saw was a slightly longer ‘rough cut’), and the odd bit feels overstretched (the dance scene especially), but otherwise this is very appealing. Roll on, ‘Newsreel 2’.