James Scott

Nightcleaners (Part 1)

In 2019, Nightcleaners (Part 1) and the subsequent follow-up film, ‘36 to ‘77, were digitally restored from the 16mm originals. The newly restored films and companion books were published in a two disc/two book box set by Raven Row. This can be purchased at:

Amazon ($40 + shipping) - DVD edition
Lux (£24.00 + shipping) - Blu-ray edition
König (€24.80 + shipping) - DVD edition

Book 1 includes commissioned essays by Kodwo Eshun, Dan Kidner, Sheila Rowbotham, Sukhdev Sandhu, and Humphry Trevelyan, plus a new interview with Mary Kelly, excerpts of interviews with Marc Karlin and from James Scott's Nightcleaners production diary (1972).

Book 2 contains facsimiles, including an issue of Shrew (1971), the publication of the Women’s Liberation Workshop (this issue designed by Mary Kelly and dedicated to the cleaners’ struggle); excerpts from Red Rag (1973) and Spare Rib (1975); newsletters of the Cleaners Actions Group (1971); and a 1977 transcript of Nightcleaners.

Edited by Dan Kidner and Alex Sainsbury

Designed by John Morgan studio

For institutions interested in renting the restored 2K version for presentation at an institution, please contact LUX.

Nightcleaners (Part 1)
UK | 1975 | B&W | 90 mins

Credits:
Berwick Street Film Collective
Marc Karlin, Mary Kelly, James Scott, Humphry Trevelyan

Description:

Nightcleaners (Part 1) investigated the abuse of women janitors and exposed the corruption of a burgeoning industry, while following the janitor’s attempts to unionize. In London, a group of women had begun to leaflet janitors who worked at night to encourage them to form a union. This labor organization became the central action of the documentary. As the film began to develop and the labor protests began to unfold, the original three filmmakers, who were all male, were joined by Mary Kelly, at the suggestion of the leafleters group (which later became known as the Cleaner’s Action Group) out of the concern for a more inclusive perspective on gender in the production of the film. Issues of representation were a central part of the filmmakers approach, but it was only much later, in the post-production, that the complex nature of the film itself began to be formed. “The result was an intensely self-reflexive film, which implicated both the filmmakers and the audience in the processes of precarious, invisible labour . It is increasingly recognised as a key work of the 1970s and as an important precursor, in both subject matter and form, to current political art practice.” (1)

Notes

1. https://lux.org.uk/work/nightcleaners

“A film that places the nightcleaners ‘ campaign within a series of broader political discussions formulated as an `open text’ which asks as many questions about its own status as a film as it does about the socio-political issues that are its subject. No engaged person should overlook its challenge.”
-Tony Rayns , Time Out

“A landmark work of British political cinema and of collective and feminist film-making” – Annette Kuhn

Nightcleaners (Part 1) was originally conceived as the first of an ongoing series; material subsequently shot for Part 2 eventually became ’36 to ’77 (1978), a documentary focused on Myrtle Wardally who was a leader of the Cleaners’ Action Group strike in Fulham . A new print of ’36 to ’77 is available from the British Film Institute (www.bfi.org.uk ).