Rising from the nihilistic ashes of the punk movement in the late 1970s, a fresh crowd of flamboyant fashionistas, who would later be christened the New Romantics, began to materialise on the streets of London. An elaborately styled, gender non-conforming response to the anarchist anti-fashion that preceded it, the New Romantics came dressed to the nines, be it for a night out on the town or just to pop down to the local shops. While so often remembered as a fleeting pop-cultural phenomenon, this invigorating documentary firmly positions the New Romantics as a multidisciplinary art movement, encompassing fashion, performance, music and film. Alongside this cultural re-contextualisation, director Kevin Hegge shines a long-overdue spotlight on some of the movement’s lesser-known pioneers (step aside Spandau Ballet), while proudly centring the LGBTQIA+ stories that are so often erased from history.
Self
Documentary about British artist Andrew Logan as he attempts to put on the 2009 edition of his Alternative Miss World. The film also presents a history of the contest (which has run eccentrically since 1972) which was set up firstly as an excuse to have a good party, but has grown into a celebration of alternative lifestyles and sexualities. The documentary mixes archive footage, animated inserts, with talking head interviews and a fly-on-the-wall look at the organisation of the 2009 event
Biography of the British painter Francis Bacon. The movie focuses on his relationship with George Dyer, his lover. Dyer was a former small time crook.
Himself
A collage of Derek Jarman's super 8 footage spanning over 20 years.
Partygoer
Queen Elizabeth I visits late 1970s England to find a depressing landscape where life has changed since her time.
Emperor's Guest
Rome, AD 303. Emperor Diocletian demotes his favourite, Sebastian, from captain of the palace guard to the rank of common soldier and banishes him to a remote coastal outpost where his fellow soldiers, weakened by their desires, turn to homosexual activities to satisfy their needs. Sebastian becomes the target of lust for the officer Severus, but repeatedly rejects the man's advances. Castigated for his Christian faith, he is tortured, humiliated and ultimately killed.
A filmed record of a bizarre garden party organized to pay a fine incurred by singer Ulla for "liberating a chandelier from Harrods."
A short film by Derek Jarman.
