May '68: When Culture was Radicalised
Ginsberg and 60s Counterculture 2 Cert 15
Selection of films including: Underground, Face to Face, The Windows of the Skull
10 May 08
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol

Poet, performer, social critic and cultural phenomenon, Allen Ginsberg is undoubtedly the quintessential figure of the Beat Generation and the countercultural revolution of the 1960s. This selection features glimpses into the changing scene in 1960s London alongside more contemporary reflections on Ginsberg’s legacy.  

The 1967 Granada programme Underground documents the underground newspaper International Times and its launch at Camden’s Roundhouse, featuring appearances by Paul McCartney, Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti as well as an early performance by Pink Floyd. Ginsberg also appears in conversation with Jeremy Isaacs in 1995 in Face to Face, and is the focus of 1998’s The Windows of the Skull from Channel 4’s Modern American Poets series.

Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Head of Cultural Programme, said of this film season: “Before the political revolutionaries of May 68, there were the counterculture beats of the 50s. People such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs did the original turning on, tuning in and dropping out. Where Kerouac renounced the beats and Burroughs withdrew into his own world, Ginsberg gave literary shape and an alternative voice to the counterculture of the 60s. This season reflects on his influence and is a rare opportunity to see and hear more from this influential poet.”

This event followed Ginsberg and 60s Counterculture 1, which took place at Watershed Media Centre on 3 May. Click here to find out more.