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Queerama

A Storyville documentary that uses archive to traverse a century of gay experiences, encompassing persecution, love and desire, forbidden encounters, sexual liberation and pride.

Created from a treasure trove of archive, Queerama traverses a century of gay experiences, encompassing persecution and prosecution, injustice, love and desire, identity, secrets, forbidden encounters, sexual liberation and pride.

The soundtrack weaves the lyrics and music of John Grant, Goldfrapp and Hercules & Love Affair with the images and guides us intimately into the relationships, desires, fears and expressions of gay men and women in the 20th century - a century of incredible change.

1 hour, 7 minutes

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:03

    John Grant

    TC and Honeybear

  • 00:10

    Hercules & Love Affair

    I Try to Talk to You

  • 00:15

    John Grant

    JC Hates F**gots

  • 00:21

    Goldfrapp

    Stranger

  • 00:26

    John Grant

    Glacier

  • 00:35

    John Grant

    Caramel

  • 00:38

    John Grant

    I Hate This Town

  • 00:50

    Goldfrapp

    Ooh La La

  • 00:54

    John Grant

    Sigourney Weaver

  • 00:58

    John Grant

    Black Belt

  • 01:07

    John Grant

    Supernatural Defibrillator

Director Daisy Asquith answers the Storyville Q&A

Director Daisy Asquith answers the Storyville Q&A
What made you first want to explore the subject?
Queer representations - what queer people are allowed to do, say and be portrayed as, in addition to the way that they can find themselves on screen, even when they’re not supposed to be there - fascinates me and always have.

How long did it take to get the film off the ground?
The idea came in the middle of the night when I was already working with John Grant on a feature documentary about him called Greatest Motherf****r.

I told him I wanted to make an archive film about a century of gay rights and desires in cinema. He immediately said β€˜yes’ and agreed for us to use his lyrics and music as a soundtrack to the film. Commissioner Kate Townsend from ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Storyville got on board straight away and then we pitched it to the BFI. That took a few months but once we got the greenlight, it took us just 12 weeks to produce the film ready for the Premiere at Sheffield International Documentary Festival.

What were you most surprised to learn in the course of production? Μύ
I was blown away by the courage of queer people in the 50s and 60s who allowed themselves to be filmed for television documentaries such as Consenting Adults, This Week: Homosexuals and This Week: Lesbians. They were out and in love even before decriminalisation.

What was the most difficult part of the story to tell?
It was very tough to try and represent β€œqueer people” as an amorphous mass. There are so many identities and experiences within the word queer, that I could never hope to cater for everyone. Trawling the BFI’s archive and finding the hidden treasures made those decisions for me anyway, and was actually surprisingly diverse.

What have been the differences in reception to the film in countries it has now travelled to?
Ask me again in a year once it has been around the world!

Did you have a social media strategy?
No, but Goldsmiths and Sussex universities, where I teach documentary have made a splash.

Has there been a positive response on social media to the film?
Yes – you can find Twitter comments under #queeramafilm

Any updates on contributors since filming finished?

I would love to find the people featured in Queerama and hear their life stories. They will be aged between 70 and 90 now.

Best recent read?
There is an excellent and entertaining blog by the historian Professor Lucy Robinson on Queerama as queer history.

Best recent film?

I loved Wild Tales.

Credits

Role Contributor
Producer Daisy Asquith
Production Company ie ie Productions

Broadcasts

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