TRAIL OF THE SPIDER (2008)

Runtime: 54mins, Format: SD / PAL / 16:9 Anamorphic

Trail of the Spider transposes Western genre motifs and the suppressed racial history of the American West (where one in three cowboys were black or Mexican) onto the transforming landscape of East London. Questioning and re-imagining the Western’s portrayal of the “Vanishing Frontier” , the film extends the metaphor to the material and psychological conditions of a present day city increasingly dominated by volatile financial speculations and private interests.

The film recreates the panoramas of the Western on landfills, wastelands and gravel pits linked to the construction of the 2012 Olympic Park and features a large cast of actors and non-actors (many of whom are themselves residents of East London). Much of the film's dialogue is rooted both in historic sources and the collective experiences of the players and filmmakers (linked in many cases through political activism and friendship).

Download Trail of the Spider Reader here.

Funded by Arts Council England, London with the support of Film London Artists Moving Image Network and supported by the Elephant Trust.

Stills Gallery

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