Working drawings for a poster by Julian Trevelyan

Caught by the River at Rough Trade East – In-store – THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER SCREENING – Wednesday 9th November, 7pm

“The Moon And The Sledgehammer a film about a family of real people: Mr Page; his two sons Jim and Peter; and his two daughters, Kathy and Nancy. Mrs Page died long ago. The Pages live in a ramshackle house situated in six acres of woodland, which they own themselves, in the heart of the commuter-belt, 20 miles south of London. The trees cut the Pages off completely from the outside world, and isolated in their island-clearing, they let the 20th Century slowly pass them by. It is a simple life without running water, electricity or gas. Peter and Jim earn what little money the family needs by doing casual repairs to tractors and farm-machinery in the neighbourhood. Machinery is the permanent obsession of Mr Page and his sons.”

One of our favourite discoveries since starting Caught By The River, The Moon And The Sledgehammer is a beautiful and meditative tale of a family that shunned the trappings of the modern era. It chimed perfectly with so many aspects of the site on the very first viewing and we’ve gently pushed it people’s way ever since then. No one ever comes away anything less than mind-blown.

Next month, we’re showing the film in full at Rough Trade East as part of our on-going series of midweek events. On the night, the director – Phillip Trevelyan – will be in conversation with Caught By The River contributor and fellow auteur Kieran Evans. The info from Rough Trade is:

Tickets are limited to 120 people. You can buy tickets in-store (East) or online. If buying online please remember to print your order as a ref and bring it along on the evening.

Anyone buying the DVD on the evening of the screening will have the ticket price refunded. Alternatively you can buy the DVD at Rough Trade east from 31st October and collect a wristband for the screening at the same time – these are strictly one per person. If your pre-ordering online and would like to attend the screening please mention this in the comments box during the final stages of checkout – there’s one admission per purchase.

View the trailer and read our review.

Rough Trade East
Dray Walk
Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL
telephone 020 7392 7788