Mike Leigh honours Contemporary Films, the distributor that brought world cinema to Britain
British distributor Contemporary Films, which for decades introduced UK audiences to auteur cinema from Bergman to Ray, is preparing a 75th anniversary screening series. Director Mike Leigh, whose debut film the company distributed in 1971, is backing the celebration.
Contemporary Films, a British distributor that quietly slipped from public notice despite once being central to the UK's film culture, is preparing a series of screenings to mark its 75th anniversary. Founded in 1951 by Charles Cooper, the company became one of the first to bring sophisticated, mostly foreign-language auteur cinema to British audiences, including works by Ingmar Bergman, Satyajit Ray, Andrzej Wajda and Yasujiro Ozu.
Contemporary began by distributing short films to Britain's film society circuit before moving into features with the 1952 Japanese film Children of Hiroshima. Its market influence declined sharply in the early 1990s amid shifting industry practices, though the company has continued to exist in a smaller form.
A link to Mike Leigh
Director Mike Leigh is among those supporting the anniversary celebrations. Contemporary distributed his feature directorial debut, Bleak Moments, in 1971. Leigh says he took the company's involvement for granted at the time, but in retrospect recognises it as an unusual choice, since Contemporary typically handled foreign rather than homegrown independent films. Leigh, who has since won both the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, credits Contemporary with opening his eyes to world cinema after growing up in Manchester seeing only Hollywood and British films.
Cooper's legacy
Charles Cooper, the son of a Ukrainian-born butcher from London's East End, was a committed communist who viewed cinema as a tool for raising political and cultural awareness. Before the second world war he distributed Soviet films in Britain, and after being deported from the United States in 1950 he founded Contemporary, supplying films to an estimated 200 film societies across the country. His children recall a family life closely intertwined with the business, including screenings held in the basement of their home.
After Cooper's health declined in the late 1980s, control passed to his second wife and later to a family friend, Eric Liknaitzky. Although the company acquired several notable independent films in the early 1990s, it failed to adapt to the rise of home entertainment formats. Current managing director Pete Lawley is now working on plans to sustain the company, largely through licensing material from its archive.
