Nightshift

Intro from cinematographer Jon Jost on Oct. 8

Action is distilled into an eerie series of moods in Robina Rose’s beguiling film, which takes place in a small hotel over the course of one desk clerk’s night shift. Time stretches as routine tasks give way to the ethereal fantasies of those spending the night in the transitive space. Shot over five days at the Portobello Hotel in West London, Nightshift makes use of a location that the filmmakers worked at themselves when money was tight. Their connection with the space accounts for the lived-in feeling that defines the film, which blurs the line between the familiar and the fantastic, and indelibly conjures a nocturnal state of mind. An Arbelos Films release.

Nightshift has been digitally restored by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in collaboration with the British Film Institute and Cinenova. Restoration funding provided by Ron and Suzanne Naples. Restored in 4K resolution from the original 16mm reversal a/b rolls and 16mm optical track on loan from the British Film Institute. Digital picture restoration: Illuminate Hollywood. Color grading: Andrew Drapkin. Sound restoration and transfers: John Polito, Audio Mechanics. Restoration supervised by: Ross Lipman, Corpus Fluxus. Special thanks: Robina Rose, Jesse Pires, Charlotte Procter, Kieron Webb, Lynn McVeigh.

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