Life in 16 Films

Steve Waters examines how the very idea of film has defined him as a playwright and a person in this book. Through the the lens of cinema it provides a cultural and political snapshot of life in Britain from the 2nd part of the 20th century up to the present day. The films spanning almost a century starting with The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) and moving most recently to Dark Waters (2019) each chapter examines aspects of Waters''s journey from his working-class Midlands upbringing to working in professional theatre to living through the Covid epidemic through the prism of a particular film. From The Wizard of Oz to Code Unknown from sci-fi to documentary from queer cinema to world cinema this honest comic book offers a view of film as a way of thinking about how we live. In doing so it illuminates culture and politics in the UK over half a century and provides an intimate insight into drama and writing.