Today would have been the 80th birthday of B S Johnson (1933-1973). To celebrate this anniversary year, the BFI, Picador and the British Library are undertaking a variety of activity.
Although best known as the ground-breaking author of Albert Angelo, The Unfortunates and Christy Malry’s Own Double-Entry, B S Johnson was also the director of a number of extraordinary and daring films. On 15 April, BFI Flipside will release You’re Human Like the Rest of Them: The films of B S Johnson. This extensive collection, presented in a Dual Format Edition (a DVD and a Blu-ray disc) will bring his experimental shorts, humorous animation, provocative agitprop and uniquely personal documentary films together for the very first time.
From his award-winning 1967 experimental film You’re Human Like the Rest of Them, which was based on his own poem, written in decasyllabics, to his ground-breaking TV films, including The Unfortunates (BBC) and the extraordinary Fat Man on a Beach (HTV), Johnson’s work is fuelled by his passionate belief in the power of words and images to convey the truth of our existence, and is filled with his infectious sense of humour.
Amongst the ten premiere presentations in this unique collection is Not Counting the Savages, Johnson’s uncompromising 1972 TV play, directed by Mike Newell. Considered lost for decades, it is presented from the only surviving material – a black and white video recording discovered only a few months ago in the Johnson family home – affording us the incredible opportunity to see this extraordinary and powerful work 41 years after it was first broadcast.
