BAMcinématek presents Queer Pagan Punk: The Films of Derek Jarman, Oct 30—Nov 11 A complete retrospective of Jarman’s 12 feature films, the most comprehensive New York series in nearly two decades New restorations of debut feature Sebastiane and Caravaggio “It feels like the correct time to be reminded of an ancient tradition that has always served civilization well, that of the independent, truth-telling poet provocateur.”—Tilda Swinton The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor for BAMcinématek and BAM Rose Cinemas. Brooklyn, NY/Sep 30, 2014—From Thursday, October 30 through Tuesday, November 11, BAMcinématek presents Queer Pagan Punk: The Films of Derek Jarman, a comprehensive retrospective of iconoclastic British filmmaker and crusading gay rights activist Derek Jarman, following its run at the BFI this spring. Jarman not only redefined queer cinema, but reimagined moviemaking as a means for limitless personal expression. From classical adaptations to historical biographies to avant-garde essay films, he crafted a body of work that was at once personal and political, during a difficult period when British independent cinema was foundering and the AIDS crisis provoked a wave of panic and homophobia. Also a poet, diarist, and painter, Jarman first entered the realm of the movies as a production designer for Ken Russell. The Devils (1971—Oct 31), Russell’s controversial opus of repressed nuns and witchcraft trials, played out in a 17th-century French village that Jarman spent a year creating. His own first feature, Sebastiane (1976—Nov 9), playing in a new restoration, placed a daring emphasis on male nudity and eroticism as it chronicled the death of the Christian martyr; Jarman called it “the first film that depicted homosexuality in a completely matter-of-fact way.” A time-traveling Queen Elizabeth I wanders among the ruins of a dystopic modern London in Jubilee (1978—Oct 30), a shot-in-the-streets survey of the burgeoning punk scene that captures early performances by Adam Ant, Wayne County, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Slits. Jarman’s unconventional take on The Tempest (1979—Nov 1) features Prospero as a young man, a Gothic mansion setting, and a show-stopping rendition of “Stormy Weather.” “It’s the Bard’s rebirth in cinema” (Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times). Eight years in the making, Caravaggio (1986—Nov 8), also in a new restoration, was Jarman’s highest-budget film, a forthright, boldly anachronistic take on the bisexual Renaissance artist and a self-portrait in disguise. Tilda Swinton, Jarman’s female muse, made her film debut in Caravaggio and stars in Jarman’s segment of the opera omnibus Aria (1987—Nov 10), which also features contributions by Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg, and Robert Altman (not to mention a side-splitting turn by Buck Henry as a sleazy, philandering movie producer). Laurence Olivier makes his final screen appearance in War Requiem (1989—Nov 6), an anti-war elegy scored entirely to Benjamin Britten’s famous choral work, while Edward II (1991—Nov 2), a modernist-styled, modern-dress staging of the Christopher Marlowe play emphasizes the persecution of the English monarch and his male protégé. Spare and spry, narrated by a child and numbering a Martian among its characters, Wittgenstein (1993—Nov 9) is a poignant coda to Jarman’s series of idiosyncratic gay- themed biopics. In between these comparatively large-scale efforts, Jarman deputized friends and lovers to populate smaller, DIY-style features. The poetic The Angelic Conversation (1985—Nov 4) depicts an idyllic male love affair, narrated with Shakespearean sonnets read by Judi Dench, while the darker The Last of England (1988—Nov 5), made just after Jarman’s AIDS diagnosis, contemplates the artist’s death as well as the nation’s—“a full-throttle state-of-the-nation broadside against Thatcher-era Britain” (Dennis Lim, Los Angeles Times). Even more provocative, The Garden (1990—Nov 11) draws upon Christian iconography, with Swinton as the Madonna and a same-sex love story that parallels the story of Christ. Made as he was dying of AIDS and famously consisting of a single monochromatic image, Blue (1993— Nov 7) has Jarman, Swinton, and others giving voice to Jarman’s elegiac meditations on the loss of his sight, his friends, and his life. Other highlights of the series include a program of Jarman’s music videos (Nov 7), as well as some of his rarely-seen short films. Shot partly on Fire Island, In the Shadow of the Sun (1980—Nov 3) syncs some of Jarman’s earliest Super-8 work to a Throbbing Gristle score, Imagining October (1984—Nov 3), a critique of Soviet (and Western) censorship shot partly in Eisenstein’s library, and The Queen is Dead (1986—Nov 3), a set of music videos by the Smiths. Completed after his death, Glitterbug (1994—Nov 3) compiles some of Jarman’s most intimate 8mm and video portraits of himself and his environs and screens alongside Pirate Tape (1987), which records a visit to London by Beat legend William S. Burroughs, and T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven (1981) a Throbbing Gristle concert film. For press information, please contact: Lisa Thomas at 718.724.8023 / [email protected] Hannah Thomas at 718.724.8002 / [email protected] Queer Pagan Punk: The Films of Derek Jarman Schedule Thu, Oct 30 7, 9:30pm: Jubilee Fri, Oct 31 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm: The Devils Sat, Nov 1 7, 9:15pm: The Tempest Sun, Nov 2 4, 6:15, 8:30pm: Edward II Mon, Nov 3 7:30pm: Glitterbug + Pirate Tape + T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven 9:15pm: In the Shadow of the Sun + Imagining October + The Queen is Dead Tue, Nov 4 7, 9:15pm: The Angelic Conversation Wed, Nov 5 7, 9:15pm: The Last of England Thu, Nov 6 7, 9:15pm: War Requiem Fri, Nov 7 7:30pm: Blue 9:30pm: Music Program: Jarman Music Videos Sat, Nov 8 4:30, 7, 9:15pm: Caravaggio Sun, Nov 9 2, 6:30pm: Sebastiane 4:15, 8:45pm: Wittgenstein Mon, Nov 10 7, 9:15pm: Aria Tue, Nov 11 8pm: The Garden Film Descriptions All films directed by Derek Jarman and in 35mm unless otherwise noted. The Angelic Conversation (1985) 81min With Paul Reynolds, Phillip Williamson. Jarman’s voluptuously romantic essay film sets erotically charged, slow-motion imagery of two men against the words of 14 of Shakespeare’s sonnets as read by Judi Dench. The result is an ecstatically beautiful paean to desire and a ravishing feast for the senses that Jarman described as the work “closest to my heart.” 35mm archival print. Tue, Nov 4 at 7, 9:15pm Aria (1987) 90min Directed by Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Charles Sturridge, Julien Temple. With Bridget Fonda, John Hurt, Elizabeth Hurley. Ten master directors contributed to this operatic omnibus film, in which each visually stunning short is set to an iconic aria. Among its highlights: Godard’s staging of Armide with bodybuilders; Robert Altman packing an opera house full of inmates from an insane asylum; and Jarman’s yearningly beautiful take on Charpentier’s Louise, starring Tilda Swinton. Mon, Nov 10 at 7, 9:15pm Blue (1993) 79min Narrated by Derek Jarman, Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry, John Quentin. Using only a blue screen, intricate sound design, and a running monologue by the director and some of his closest collaborators, Jarman’s final film captures his increasingly sightless world while he was going blind dying of AIDS. One of the most heart-wrenching artistic statements ever put on film, Blue is an elegiac farewell to life by an artist confronting his own mortality. Fri, Nov 7 at 7:30pm Caravaggio (1986) 93min With Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry, Robbie Coltrane. Jarman’s biography of the Italian Renaissance painter charts his life from the beginning of his career painting austere Biblical exaltations to his rampant flirtations with Roman counterculture. Jarman creates an evocative portrait of Rome’s dark underbelly, finding cinematic equivalents to Caravaggio’s masterful use of chiaroscuro. New DCP restoration. Sat, Nov 8 at 4:30, 7, 9:15pm The Devils (1971) 111min Directed by Ken Russell. With Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave. Jarman created the dazzlingly imaginative production design for Ken Russell’s ultra-controversial X-rated shocker (based on Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun) about a 17th-century French convent overcome with sexual frenzy and witch-hunt hysteria. An orgiastic spectacle of sadomasochistic sex and religious iconography, The Devils is a still-potent landmark of transgressive cinema. Fri, Oct 31 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm Edward II (1991) 87min With Steven Waddington, Tilda Swinton, Andrew Tiernan. Christopher Marlowe’s play gets a daringly original treatment in Jarman’s hands, as the 14th-century monarch (Waddington) and his presumed lover Piers Gaveston (Tiernan) are portrayed as victims of gay persecution. Staged in an imaginary realm outside of time (at one point Annie Lennox sings Cole Porter), Edward II is a bold commentary on homophobia in contemporary Britain. Sun, Nov 2 at 4, 6:15, 8:30pm The Garden (1990) 92min With Tilda Swinton, Johnny Mills, Philip MacDonald. Jarman channeled his anguish over AIDS and discrimination into this scorching visual essay, combining feverish images of religious iconography and gay persecution, a camp musical number, and footage shot near the post-apocalyptic-looking nuclear power plant that abutted the director’s own beloved garden. The result is an angry, lyrical, and utterly transfixing cinematic mosaic rife with blistering intensity. Tue, Nov 11 at 8pm Glitterbug (1994) 54min Assembling 20 years of home movies, Jarman’s intimate self-portrait is a vibrant record of an extraordinary life, featuring footage of the director at work on his films, Britain’s underground gay and punk scenes, and friends like William S.