Video & On Demand - London Symphony (DVD)

London Symphony is a modern day silent film - a city symphony - offering a poetic journey through the city of London. A cultural snapshot of London as it stands, and a celebration of the city's diversity.

With this wonderful black-and-white journey through the city of London, director Alex Barrett brings a gloriously beautiful and enjoyable modern-day variation on the city symphonies of the 1920s urban cinema (such as Berlin, Symphony of a City or Man with A Movie Camera). The stunning visuals, combined with James McWilliam’s stirring music, help take the viewer on a poetic journey through London, exploring its rich diversity of culture, architecture and religion. It is a meditative and blissful film that celebrates a vibrant and visually stunning city.

(Edinburgh Film Festival programme note)

The DVD includes an introduction by the director Alex Barrett, and the short film that was a precursor to the feature - Hungerford: Symphony of a London Bridge.

Alex Barrett is an independent filmmaker whose works collectively have been screened at over 70 international festivals, and won eleven awards. His short films also enjoyed a number of non-festival screenings, including showings at the BFI Southbank, the Barbican Centre, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

His debut feature, LIFE JUST IS, was released theatrically in the UK in December 2012. Sight & Sound contributor Brad Stevens called it "one of the most promising debuts in contemporary cinema" before placing it in his top five films of 2012. The home video release of LIFE JUST IS was acclaimed as Mark Kermode's 'DVD of the Week', and the feature was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2012, where it was also selected for the 'Best of the Fest' screenings.

Alex's second feature, the silent city symphony LONDON SYMPHONY, competed for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it had its World Premiere in June 2017.

Selected Filmography

2017: London Symphony (feature)

2012: Life Just Is (feature)

2009: Paintbrush: The Epitaph (short)

2008: Hungerford: Symphony of a London Bridge (short)

2008: Paintbrush (short)

2008: Canbury (short)

2007: Great & Small (short)