CINE[STHESIA]: Queering Cocozza 101
Join the National Library of Scotland at Kelvin Hall on 22nd February as they delve into the legacy of Scottish-Italian filmmaker Enrico Cocozza (1922-1997) during the 101st year of his birth.
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About CINE[STHESIA]: Queering Cocozza 101
Revisiting the 60 plus surviving archival films we hold, we've curated a screening that proposes the queerer elements of his practice.
SURREALISM | HORROR | DELINQUENCY | TONGUE-IN-CHEEK
Enrico Cocozza was the son of immigrant Italians who ran a café in Wishaw. Supporting himself as a languages lecturer, Cocozza pursued an underground yet localised career in making movies, filming mostly in his flat and around Wishaw. Although a contemporary of Margaret Tait, having both studied at Centro Sperimentale film school in Rome, his legacy has never achieved the same celebration. Perhaps due to his genre-hopping, never leaving Wishaw, or never taking himself too seriously (with a production company called Tongue in Cheek producing parodies), and often unfairly labelled as amateur, rather than artist or professional. Parody can be profound. Acting in his own films alongside willing locals he produced extraordinary, non-conforming films like no other Scot of his generation, regularly wooing and confusing judges at film festival awards. From 1952-1960 he was in full-time professional filmmaking and managed a self-made cinema. This was cut short when a filming accident damaged his eyesight, resulting in a long hiatus from his blossoming style. He was the epitome of a passionate commitment to DIY experimental filmmaking.
Queering can be at odds with documenting history where traditional forms of evidence are crucial but may be lacking in pre-legalised LGBT contexts. Especially in the oppressive silence of 1950’s Scotland where the likes of Edwin Morgan & Cocozza found themselves. Although the identity of the auteur remains clouded, Cocozza’s work is charmingly touted as ‘Scotland’s first queer cinema’, ‘Scotland’s first erotic film’ (Bongo Erotico - screening at this event) and ‘Wishaw’s answer to Jean Cocteau’ - Cocozza himself completing a PhD on the artist. Filmmaking leaves traces.
A free research zine curated by Events Assistant Conor Baird will complement the screening. This will begin to unpack Cocozza’s oeuvre and face the challenges around posthumous queering, by referencing his paper archive materials, external clippings and other writing from academics and Cocozza’s contemporaries. Where is Scotland’s queer film history?
Film programme:
Bongo Erotico (1959), 9 mins, with a newly produced 2023 musical score by Matt Robinson & Thomas Wall: “made by recording onto cassette from xylophone and marimba, then playing back with the rewind half pressed to create sounds like an oyster catcher call - a transcendent flurry of tones. We layered these with distant drums and harmonica drones to create an other-worldly, erotically charged soundscape.” - thomasandmatt's SoundCloud
Theme for Sunday (1956), 20 mins
Incubo (1956), 9 mins
Chick’s Day (1950), 28 mins
This event is recommended for those over 16. Kelvin Hall and its auditorium are fully accessible. If you have any questions, please contact us at movingimage@nls.uk.
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