Since 2021, I have been working with filmmaker Peter Davis on managing and organising his incredible archive, and in 2023 we built a major new website, Villon Films.
The Davis collection starts with his first -and only- fiction work in 1959 (Shadowplay) before a series of 16mm Documentaries made for Swedish TV shot in Sixties London which observe everything from Chelsea motorbike gangs, first-generation immigrants, countercultural conferences, and East End pubs. Elsewhere in that decade there are gorgeous and politically vital documentaries made in Jamaica, Belize, and Cuba – countries on the verge of great change.
His first films of the 1970s touched on Cold War espionage (Counterpoint), Watergate (The Paperback Vigilante), and it was during this time when Davis began studying the injustices of Apartheid South Africa with the documentary White Laager (1977).
His work in that country yielded films about Winnie and Nelson Mandela, recorded musical performances, and a two-part series on South African Cinema history – In Darkest Hollywood.
Peter Davis continued to make searching and politically important films until the 2000s, covering diverse issues such as AIDS in Zimbabwe, healers in South Africa, a history of Jewish tourism in the NY Catskills Mountains, and environmental problems in Eastern Europe.
Throughout this period, Villon has also distributed works from other filmmakers and some of these are made available online on the Villon website for the first time. From the pre-War South African silent Siliva The Zulu (1923) to rare post-War fiction from that country including African Jim, Zonk, and Song of Africa, and also a very unique collection of South African Pro-Apartheid government propaganda videos and films.
Alongside over 400 films there is, for the first time, Peter’s huge collection of stills photography from across the globe, captured over many decades. There are currently over 4000 images with many more to add…
Elsewhere, there are hundreds of ephemeral items related to the collection: full transcripts and scripts, posters, news clippings, articles and more. Finally, there is a growing body of Stories and Essays by Peter Davis reflecting on over sixty years working in moving images, and socio-political documentary.
