Nightshift
“Nightshift” takes us on a surreal journey through nocturnal London, seen through the eyes of a hotel receptionist whose dream comes to life through the city’s punk community. Among musicians, artists and eccentrics, the boundary between reality and fantasy gradually dissolves, creating an extraordinary portrait of London’s counterculture in the early 1980s.
It is night-time and, in the lobby of a small hotel in West London, a receptionist goes about her duties, calm and impassive, her face as pale as a ghost. During her shift, she witnesses a parade of unlikely figures, who live by night and flee by day. Little by little, a surreal and fantastical world is revealed in beautifully crafted sequences blurring reality.
The cast includes punk icon Jordan (Pamela Rooke) as the reception clerk and prominent figures of the countercultural London scene, like poet and actor Heathcote Williams and experimental filmmaker Anne Rees-Mogg. The director of photography is American independent filmmaker Jon Jost and the soundtrack is composed by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Nightshift has been digitally restored by Lightbox Film Center (Philadelphia) in collaboration with the BFI and Cinenova.
The film will be screened together with Hotel Royal.
Robina Rose
Robina Rose (1951–2025) was a British filmmaker, photographer, and cultural activist whose work combined experimental cinema, documentary, and community media. Her influential films include Birth Rites (1977), Jigsaw (1980), made with autistic children, and Nightshift (1981), later acquired by MoMA. She also made socially engaged documentaries for the BBC and was active in environmental and community initiatives. Her work was recently rediscovered through exhibitions including Women in Revolt! at Tate Britain.
Reżyseria: Robina Rose
