Contemporary Films: An Illustrated Talk

2026 marks the 75th anniversary of Contemporary Films, a pioneering film distributor that paved the way for world cinema in the UK.

The son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Charles Cooper founded and ran Contemporary Films with his wife, Kitty. Both members of the Communist party, they saw cinema as not just an end in itself, but a vehicle for change.

They introduced UK audiences to the classics of Soviet cinema and the new waves of Eastern Europe, as well as progressive film movements worldwide from Cuba to China. Heavily involved through documentary screenings related to everything from Black Power to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Coopers, and later programmer Eric Liknaitzky, didn’t just signify change, they embodied it with a discerning vision that cut through cinema, politics and geography.

Daniel Bird, a friend and collaborator of Contemporary Films during their later years, will give a talk on the maverick distributor, illustrated with 16mm reels from their archive.