John Maybury
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.
When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.
A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.
Documentary about the making of Derek Jarman's 1979 film "Jubilee".
A short documentary exploring the ongoing relevance and power of 'Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma'.
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.
Maybury's significant contribution to experimental film and video becomes apparent through a complex reworking of his own archive footage. "The film's attempt to re-create an acid trip is showcased in this creature's dance: whenever she moves, a rainbow of colors and shapes appear, as if her appendages are the artist's brushes". (Gary Morris)
Maledicta Electronica is a mesmerising journey into a video world of performance, S&M, politics and poetry. Maybury mixes exquisite image-making with an acutely urbane politic that never lets the viewer drift too long in pleasure fields.
Remembrance of Things Fast represents the culmination of Maybury's work in video, which has developed alongside the technology itself. Starring Tilda Swinton and Rupert Everett in lead roles, the tape confronts the conventions of world television and satellite broadcast, drawing on the fragmentary nature of the medium and the clich_s of the three minute attention span. At the same time, it replaces bland mainstream images with darker, more satirical observations and studies. The environment is surreal, a virtual reality television land of landscapes and imaginary cities, enhanced by Marvin Black's dark, dense soundtrack. It is a cyberspace where the impossible is all too possible. Within this parallel world, a series of archetypes act, observe and comment, informed by a strong sexual sensibility. '..a mesmerising, sometimes hysterically funny, cinematic bricolage with a strong sexual and mostly gay sensibility'. - Cordelia Swann
Another cutting-edge visual experiment from British artist John Maybury, Premonitions Of Absurd Perversion In Sexual Personae, Part 1 serves up a video tribute to the male body, a steamy Kenneth Anger for the video age. Pieced together from a ten year stockpile of evocative, personal images, Maybury’s tape uses multi-form mixing techniques in a typically freeform exploration of the polymorphous field of desire and sexuality.
A BBC Arena profile of the Director from the time of the release of his film, The Garden, featuring interviews with Jarman, his collaborators and friends.
This music special is dedicated to dispelling the prejudices associated with the HIV infection and raising money for AIDS research and relief. Some of today's most celebrated recording artists performing their interpretations of the classic songs of Cole Porter.
The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.
The concert was recorded live at the Dominion Theatre in London, on June 3, 1988. TracklistHide Credits 1 Jackie 2 Just Like You Said It Would Be 3 Mandinka 4 Just Call Me Joe 5 Never Get Old 6 Jerusalem 7 Troy 8 I Am Stretched On Your Grave
A short film broadcast on the Network 21 pirate tv station in 1987. "a short film, devoid of soundtrack, of a youth on a cross spinning suspended in fire, over which was superimposed another youth languishing in an armchair... apparently John Maybury's 'Big Love'." - John Chairman
Three song clips by The Smiths ('The Queen is Dead', 'There is a Light that Never Goes Out' and 'Panic'), all directed with an artistic and conceptual vision by the late Derek Jarman. The result is the junction of the powerful lyrics and melodies by Morrissey and Marr combined with Jarman's expressive images.
The Union Jacking Up is an ode to friends, including Trojan and Leigh Bowery who feature in the film among others, as well as a collage of news footage of 80s Britain. The film’s haunting soundtrack is composed similarly to the video and 16mm footage that fades and dissolves on screen, often montaging two sources to create abstract combinations and juxtapositions. - ICA
A short non-narrative film made to commemorate the visit of Burroughs and Gysin to the UK. The film consists of multiple short vignettes: Witches Song (1979), Broken English (1979), Ballad Of Lucy Jordan (1979), Pirate Tape (Derek Jarman, 1983) and T.G.: Psychic Rally In Heaven (Derek Jarman, 1981).
Through a series of tableaux/still life settings, characters are subjected to experiments dealing with elegance, science, violence, technology, glamour and love, attempting to examine the levels of alienation which the modern world and lifestyles encourage.
A model poses in bright primary colours alongside a number of oblique words. Images of a woman rotating wearing long flowing dresses are overlain and played at different speeds.
