Louis Benassi, who has died aged 59 from cancer, was a distinctive artist/film-maker and countercultural event producer. In his work, and life, he drew on experimental and radical movements such as Dadaism, Fluxus, Lettrism, Situationism and Expanded Cinema. His films – single and multiscreen collages combining Free Cinema-style heightened realism with radical graphics, found footage and sonic interventions – were screened across Europe.
They often formed part of the mixed-media events Louis curated in galleries, cinematheques, site-specific locations and squats. Such happenings took place in London (including at the Whitechapel Gallery), Paris (where his work was especially welcomed), Berlin, Bordeaux, Dublin, Ghent and Naples.
He also programmed several seasons that had international significance, including a retrospective of the work of the film diarist Jonas Mekas for the Edinburgh international film festival in 2004, and the UK’s first comprehensive assessment of the Lettrist movement, in a series at Toynbee studios, London, in 2008.
Louis was born to working-class Italian parents in Glasgow and his childhood was challenging; he became estranged from his family and by his mid-teens he was living on the streets. His life changed when he was 16: he met the brothers Andre and Danny Oji in Kelvingrove skatepark and moved in with them.
This led not only to their forming the postpunk band Rockers Almighty – the Clash stayed with them and dubbed Louis “Mister Glasgow” – and direct involvement in the city’s anti-fascist protests, but also to lifelong friendship (for Louis, the most valuable social structure).
Moving to London in the late 1980s he enrolled at the Slade, where he was tutored by Stuart Brisley, a significant influence. He began making films while on the staff at the Scala Cinema, but his own circumstances were often precarious; he worked as a labourer and in event/set construction (he helped to build the Close Up Film Centre off Brick Lane).
His greatest creative and personal security came from his relationship with the Lithuanian graphic artist and photographer Lijana Siuchina. They met in 2009 and became inseparable collaborators.
Louis was a larger than life figure, always stylishly dressed, articulate and unfailingly generous beyond his means, and an unforgettable friend to many, me included.
Lijana survives him, as does his beloved daughter, Edie, from an earlier relationship with the artist and musician Jane Fredericks.
