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'

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	AD INFERNUM BUDDY? [1159] Add to my films Making of spoof Roman historical film drama, shot in Cocozza's film studio with scenes shot inside the Connoisseur Cinema in Wishaw.	1952 silent bw
	ALASSIO 1947 [1169] Add to my films Panoramic views around Alassio, Italy.	1947 silent bwcol
	ALASSIO 1954 [1168] Add to my films A brief scenic tour of Alassio, capturing the essence of this Italian town.	1954 sound col
	BEFORE TIME CAME [1181] Add to my films A love story inspired by a poem of Wilfred Rowland Childe.	1958 sound col
	BFI SUMMER SCHOOL BANGOR 1949 [1165] Add to my films The arrival, and outings of members of the BFI course being held at Neuadd Reichel, at the time the male student halls of Bangor University. Participants include a number of faces familiar from the film Cocozza made that year at the Summer School, "Ferry Flirt". Course members greeted at the start of the film by Ernest Lindgren, first Curator of the British Film Institute. See ref: 1116.	1949 silent bwcol
	BONGO EROTICO [4316] Add to my films A devilish, surreal nightmare of bisexual lust.	1959 silent bw
	BOTTLE, the [1123] Add to my films Fictional story about an English boy, Cecil, on holiday in Scotland and his holiday friends playing in Wishaw streets and in a park.	1958 sound bw
	BRUSH UP YOUR SHAKESPEARE! [6610] Add to my films Enrico Cocozza and local children recite Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' in his flat, Wishaw. [see also ref. 6887]	1982 sound col
	BRYAN WELCOMES RAFFLES / LA MORT ET LE POETE [5095] Add to my films Bryan Welcomes Raffles is about an Airman of World War 2 being greeted by his family on his return home on leave. The second film features Enrico Cocozza as a young poet thrown into a river and drowned by a mysterious figure in a robe.	1943 silent bw
	BUNGLING BURGLARS, the [6890] Add to my films A 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 Rushes / takes from the final videogram THICK AS THIEVES, at ref. 6594.	1982 sound col
	CAMEO [1117] Add to my films Fictional story of a golfer who finds a magical ring; he dreams that he falls in love with a lady trapped in a ruined house. [Highly commended at the 1953 SAAC Festival].	1952 sound bwcol
	CAPPELLA OF ENCHANTMENT, the [1175] Add to my films A love story set in Alassio, Italy.	1947 sound bwcol
	CAPRICCIO [1122] Add to my films An amateur film experimenting in low key lighting. [See also ref. 1114].	1954 silent col
	CAT, the [1115] Add to my films Story about a black cat that turns into a man and kills its owners.	1956 silent bw
	CHICK'S DAY [1173] Add to my films The story of two young boys who commit a robbery.	1950 sound bw
	COCOZZA FAMILY RECORDS [1185] Add to my films Compilation of various family shots of the Cocozza family, including a wedding and a picnic in Kelvingrove Park.	1949 silent bwcol
	CONTRASTS: Sounds on Chair, Simple Simon, Devil Dance [6607] Add to my films An experimental videogram by Enrico Cocozza, featuring three performance pieces: Sounds on a Chain, Simple Simon, Devil Dance.	1984 sound col
	CORKY [1183] Add to my films The adventures of a young boy in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.	1956 sound col
	CRABBIT GRANNY [1121] Add to my films Comedy about a young boy and his dog on holiday with his grandmother. [Highly commended at the 1953 SAAC Festival].	1953 sound bw
	DEMOLITION MACKAY AND JARDINE'S, WISHAW [6605] Add to my films General views from Enrico Cocozza's flat of the front of Mackay and Jardine's building being demolished by a huge crane.	1982 sound col
	DEMON WITHIN, the [6589] Add to my films A dark, fictional story filmed in Enrico Cocozza's flat about a young flat bound artist, Bruno, who is tormented by his two other selves, which manifest themselves as young boys.	1982 sound col
	FANTASMAGORIA [1170] Add to my films A fictional story of a Dracula-type character who terrorises the Coltness Estate in Wishaw.	1948 sound bw
	FERRY FLIRT [1116] Add to my films Fictional story of a young man and woman who fall in love on a ferry.	1949 sound bw
	FILIGNANO [1174] Add to my films General scenic shots of Filignano in Italy.	1955 silent bw
	FIRENZE AND SIENA [3979] Add to my films A short picturesque trip through the Italian cities of Florence and Siena, highlighting the historic beauty of each.	1947 silent bw
	FIT O' THE TOON [5730] Add to my films The course of a day in the life of the 'fit o' the toon' area in Wishaw through the eyes of Enrico Cocozza. His first film after a break of 18 years contains interviews by Cocozza and vox pops from a variety of local people about their lives, jobs, plans for the day, health, holidays, weather etc as we chronologically move through the day.	1978 sound col
	GLASGOW'S DOCKLANDS [0938] Add to my films Glasgow's docklands; its workers, transportation and daily life. Filmed by Enrico Cocozza for Educational Films of Scotland.	1956 sound bw
	INCUBO [1126] Add to my films Fictional story of a man who commits suicide after a series of events. The title, meaning Incubus, is the name for a demon that preys upon women in particular, although it may also attack men.	1956 sound bw
	INVOCATION [0629] Add to my films A poetic study of the countryside in film, word and music.	1951 mute col
	JAMES MEER'S ROMEO [6887] Add to my films Rushes from Cocozza videogram. James Meer, a local youth, recites lines from Shakespeare while being filmed in close up by Cocozza, who also directs him. There are moments of humour when James Meer tries to keep a straight face. [see also ref. 6610]	1982 sound col
	LET ME RELAX! [5094] Add to my films A young man tries to relax in his garden whilst constantly being interrupted.	1939 silent bw
	LIVING GHOST, the [1162] Add to my films An amateur story film concerning the appearance of a "living ghost".	1959 sound bw
	LONDON 51 [1161] Add to my films General shots around London, including the exteriors of the Empire and Carlton Theatres, a sea and ships exhibition, the Royal Mint and Telekinema.	1951 silent bw
	MASQUERADE [1158] Add to my films A girl, perhaps on her birthday, lives out her subconscious passions. A stylish and surreal concoction of dance, theatrics, flirtation and solitude.	1953 sound bw
	MEET THE STARS [1166] Add to my films Scottish footballing stars of 1960 demonstrate their skills, including Alex Scott from Rangers FC and Bertie Peacock from Celtic FC, at Cathkin Park in Glasgow. Sponsored by Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, whose Rocky Mount cigarettes are shown in film.	1960 silent bw
	MELON PARTY, the [6889] Add to my films Rushes from Cocozza videogram. Enrico Cocozza treats local children to a silly 'watermelon party' in his flat. Footage of Orange Walk in Wishaw Main Street towards the end.	1982 sound col
	MIRROR, the [1157] Add to my films A short abstract film with a theme of narcissism.	1951 sound bw
	NINE O'CLOCK [1182] Add to my films Story of a young man's last few hours before he commits suicide.	1951 sound bw
	OLD AND THE NEW, the [1167] Add to my films A record of the renovation work on the Bellhaven cafe, Wishaw, Lanarkshire, between 1948 to 1955; shows the work of masons, joiners, glaziers and the Cocozza family on the new Cafe, and the interest of passers-by.	1955 silent bwcol
	PETROL [1110] Add to my films A man is strangled to death and then dumped in a car in this amateur production of a fictional story.	1957 silent bw
	PLUGGERS' PICNIC, the [1119] Add to my films A drama about four schoolchildren playing truant to have a picnic. [Commended at the 1952 SAAC Festival].Four school children (two boys and two girls) play truant to have a picnic, during the course of which they eat so much that they are too fat to move and are thus caught by a teacher. [Shots include Wishaw Central School (exterior), classroom scenes and park, probably in Wishaw]	1952 sound bw
	PORPHYRIA [1155] Add to my films A photographer has fallen for his model, but doubts about their love drive him to commit murder, then suicide. Based on a Robert Browning poem.	1960 sound bw
	RIC HAS A BATH [1124] Add to my films An amateur film telling the story of a dog having a bath.	1950 silent bw
	ROBOT THREE [1111] Add to my films Fictional story following the lines of a Frankenstein type horror movie: A grim scientist orders one of his androids to destroy another, after finding out it has fallen in love with a third, "female" robot. She seduces her creator into drinking from a poisoned cup, and makes her escape...	1951 sound col
	ROUTE 6 [6595] Add to my films Observations from Enrico Cocozza's flat window in Wishaw of the exterior of Route 6 Auto Centre. People come and go, occasional inserts of different views of Wishaw street life.	1987 sound col
	SAIL TO INVERARAY [1120] Add to my films A steamer trip from Wemyss Bay through the Kyles of Bute to Inveraray.	1956 sound col
	SCENES AT WEST CROSS [1189] Add to my films Compilation of views around West Cross in Wishaw, including shots of men tarring the roads, the Belhaven cafe and a gents' hair dressers.	1949 silent bw
	SCHERZO [1118] Add to my films A comical story featuring Enrico Cocozza playing a film producer who pilfers a woman's hat.	1956 sound bw
	SILVER TRUMPET, the [1160] Add to my films An amateur film telling the story of a young author and a magic trumpet.	1961 sound col
	SMART BOY WANTED [1171] Add to my films The story of two teenagers given a job in a cafe.	1960 sound bw