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Queer Britain on Screen in the 1960s + ScreenTalk with curator Simon McCallum and writer Jen Ives (15*)

Queer 60s

,Cinema 1
A black and white film still showing two men - one standing just behind the other, looking at him

Explore the Sixties in the UK through a queer lens, featuring British queer archive shorts made before and after the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality. 

Featuring films from the BFI National Archive, including interviews with gay men and women before the partial legalisation of same-sex sexual activity, unforgettable drag performances from the Black Cap in Camden and the potent short Dream A40, in which two men are menaced while driving through the countryside.

Other highlights include an extract from a rare TV adaptation of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane and some remarkable interviews from the This Week series, where gay men discuss their lives in the years before the partial decriminalisation of same-sex sexual activity in the UK and lesbians talk about the challenges they face in a heteronormative society.

 

Tagged with: Cinema Queer 60s

Please note that some of these films contain language that reflects the attitudes and terminology of their time, including outdated terms used to refer to LGBTQ+ people.

Curated by Simon McCallum, BFI National Archive. 

More titles to be confirmed. 

Programme

This Week: Homosexuals & This Week: Lesbians (extract)

UK 1964-65. Dirs James Butler, John Philips.

Reporter Bryan Magee investigates the social stigma and criminal status accorded to many gay men and lesbians, at a time when same-sex sexual activity between men was illegal. 

 

What’s a Girl Like You... (extract)

UK 1969. Dir Charlie Squires.

Drag performers from the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to Manchester's working mens’ club circuit perform and discuss their craft in this extraordinary TV documentary.

 

Entertaining Mr Sloane (extract)

UK 1968. Dir Peter Moffatt. With Sheila Hancock, Edward Woodward, Clive Francis.

A nymphomaniac and her gay brother fight for possession of a young psychopath in this TV adaptation of Joe Orton’s provocative play.

Black Cap Drag (extract)

UK-USA 1969. Dir Richard Benner.

Rare performance and interview footage, shot at Camden’s historic ‘Palladium of Drag’ by visiting American filmmaker Dick Benner.

 

Dream A40 

UK 1965. Dir Lloyd Reckord. With Michael Billington, Nicholas Wright. 16mins. 

A young gay couple’s road trip takes a sinister turn in this short by pioneering Jamaican actor-director Lloyd Reckord. 

Simon McCallum is a moving image curator, writer and producer specialising in queer history. He has curated events and film seasons including London’s Vanishing Queer Spaces and Gross Indecency: Queer Lives Before and After the ’67 Act, and was archive consultant on the feature documentaries Queerama and Freedom: 50 Years of Pride. 

Jen Ives is a writer, satirist and film maker from London. She has written for TV & radio, and is currently working on her debut novel.

Queer 60s

Cinema 1

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.