Image: A youth cinema workshop, photograph by Wilf Thust

Exploring Four Corners Film Workshop's experimental film production and exhibition work in the 1970s and 1980s, to recover a new history of its independent filmmaking practice. 

Dr Hollie Price of Keele University is researching Four Corners' history as part of independent film culture in the UK at a time of turbulent social change. The project focuses on Four Corners in Bethnal Green and its work with local people, and explores community histories, memories and issues for people in East London today. 

The project runs from July 2024 to January 2026, and will include:

• New archival research into Four Corners’ work in the 1970s and 1980s

• Film screenings and events 

• An exhibition exploring the workshop’s history in 2025

• Adding material to Four Corners archive and online site

UPCOMING EVENTS

Films of Resistance: Experimental Community Cinema in Bethnal Green

March-April 2025 – St Margaret’s House Chapel, Bethnal Green

Join us for a series of screenings and conversations exploring the radical history of filmmaking on Roman Road. 

In the 1970s and 80s, filmmakers group Four Corners created experimental films whilst running a community cinema and film workshops from a former grocer’s shop on Roman Road. These events are inspired by some of the issues addressed in Four Corners’ early projects, including women’s lives, allotment spaces, experiences of migration and youth culture, exploring these themes in dialogue with present-day East London. 

Women’s Lives – Feminist Film and the East End. Weds 5 March 6.30-9.30pm. BOOK HERE

On Allotments – Growing, Community, Filmmaking. Thurs 13 March 6.30-9.30pm. BOOK HERE

Refuge England – Migration Stories. Weds 26 March 6.30-9.30pm.                  BOOK HERE

Yoof! Young People and Community Filmmaking. Thurs 3 April 6.30-9.30pm. BOOK HERE

The 'Four Corners Film Workshop: Independent Filmmaking and Exhibition in East London, 1975-90' research project is led by Dr Hollie Price at Keele University in partnership with Four Corners, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.