Biography of 'COCOZZA, Enrico'
Amateur film-maker and academic
Born: 1921, November
Died: 1997, December, Wishaw
Cocozza, the son of immigrant Italians who ran a cafe in Wishaw, was one of Scotland's most unusual and remarkable film makers. Although an academic by profession he also pursued an 'underground' career making movies. Using amateur casts and crews, and filming in and around his home town in Lanarkshire, he produced films like no other Scot of his generation.
His movies ranged from the strange and surreal Nine O'Clock to the pessimistic social realism of Chick's Day which won the UK Amateur Cine World ‘Ten Best competition in 1951. He established the Connoisseur Film Circle with a small auditorium at the rear of the family café in Wishaw for screening of continental and art films to fellow enthusiasts.
Over some 50 years he produced films both in Scotland during his visits to Italy, observational and reportage of Main Street Wishaw, and a suite of surreal, avant-garde work that often baffled audiences at the Scottish Amateur Film Festival accustomed to more conventional films. One of the more enduring titles is Glasgow's Docklands made for Educational Films of Scotland.
His was a controversial career blighted later in life by illness that affected his sight.
Researcher: National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive
Films associated with 'COCOZZA, Enrico'
SPOILED PICNIC, a [7084]Add to my filmsThree sisters are enjoying a day out on a local estate when they are spied upon by a young man with a rifle. |
1942 silent bw |
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Stairheed Comedy - AUNTIE LEEZIE'S CURRANT BUN [6888]Add to my filmsRushes from Cocozza videogram. An amateur production by Enrico Cocozza, featuring local children helping with chores around his flat and singing a song together 'Auntie Leezie's Currant Bun'. Towards the end there is footage of an Orange Walk down Wishaw Main Street. |
1982 sound col |
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STAIRHEED SYMPHONY, a [6608]Add to my filmsAn amateur production by Enrico Cocozza, featuring local children helping with chores around his flat and singing a song together 'Auntie Leezie's Currant Bun'. |
1982 sound col |
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SURREALLY SCOZZESE: Enrico Cocozza 1921 - 1997 [5975]Add to my filmsDocumentary on experimental film-maker Enrico Cocozza, exploring his life and work with excerpts from his films and interviews with those who knew him. |
Onsite only |
2001 sound bwcol |
THICK AS THIEVES [6594]Add to my filmsA tale of bungling burglars and their unsuccessful attempt to break in to a flat. Featuring Enrico Cocozza and his friend Iain Leslie and shot in Cocozza's Wishaw flat. |
1982 sound col |
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TOURISTS, the [1163]Add to my filmsA holiday film of Italy, including views of Genoa, Alassio, Naples and Filignano. |
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1955 silent bwcol |
TRIPTYCH: SINFONLA BREVE, CHEF'S FANTASY, RITUAL FIRE DANCE [6606]Add to my filmsAn experimental videogram by Enrico Cocozza, featuring a visual experiment in three panels: Sinfonla Breve, Chef's Fantasy and Ritual Fire Dance. |
1984 sound col |
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TWILIGHT [1176]Add to my filmsThe story of a group of people trying to survive after an atomic war, by sacrificing to their Gods. |
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1955 sound bw |
UNFINISHED WISHAW HIGH SCHOOL FILM [1187]Add to my filmsShots of various sports at Wishaw High School and prize-giving ceremony. |
1949 silent bw |
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WATERMELON PARTY, the [6609]Add to my filmsEnrico Cocozza treats local children to a silly 'watermelon party' in his flat. [See also ref 6889 for further rushes] |
1982 sound col |
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WESTX INTERVUS [6900]Add to my filmsScenes around West Cross, Wishaw. Enrico Cocozza interviews local people as they go about their daily business and captures the various goings on of the street his flat overlooks. Sound recorded at 18 fps. |
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1979 sound col |
WHITE LADY, the [1172]Add to my filmsStory of a male hiker abducted by a "white lady". |
1949 sound bw |
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