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When the Pie Was Opened

  • January 1941
  • 8mins

  • Documentary
  • War
  • Directed by

    Len Lye,

    Starring

    Valerie Forrest,

    Hilda Masters,

    Surrealism, avant-garde sound montage, and irreverent wit might be the last thing you'd expect from a government-sponsored film about wartime cookery. But director, artist, animator and all-round firework of a man Len Lye specialised in the unexpected. A simple tale of a mother cheering up her daughter with a pie from her rationing-stricken pantry (interestingly the war is never directly referred to) is skilfully crafted into a work of real artistic depth, while retaining an unpretentious charm.