Oss Oss Wee Oss (movie)
- Production country: United Kingdom
- Producer: Alan Lomax
- Production companies: Folk Films, English Folk Dance and Song Society
- Genre: Documentary
- Release date: 1/2/1953
- Run time: 12 min.
Movie description
Padstow, a fishing village on the coast of Cornwall, celebrates May Day with an ancient custom: two osses (hobby-horses) dance through the town streets accompanied by drums and accordions. All Padstownians participate in the event, which has now become a tourist attraction drawing over tens of thousands of annual visitors. Folklorists Alan Lomax and Peter Kennedy and filmmaker George Pickow collected footage at the festival in 1951, producing a pioneering work in the use of sound, low-light photography, and conversational presentation of narrative. A favorite of Margaret Mead, who used it in her classes, the film circulated widely and continues to have influence today, especially in the neo-Pagan community.
