SACK BARROW

Sack Barrow begins with a shot of an empty factory. Tarpaulins blanket the workstations, liquid pools on the dusty floor, and a bank of strip lights give off a bland, indifferent glow. This is Servex, a metal electroplating plant on the outskirts of London that was established in 1931 to provide employment for limbless and disabled ex-servicemen. Having struggled for many years to remain a viable business, it was finally closed in 2010. Rivers’ camera lingers over the chemical precipitation that has accrued on the factory’s machinery over its eight decades of service, panning across a crystal topography that resembles frostbitten snowballs, or the lobes of a calcified brain. (Tom Morton)

This film is screened together with Slow Action.