LEFTIES (3 x 60’)
BBC, 2006
““One of this century’s most important documentary series”
The Arts Desk”
This series of films documents aspects of the Left in Britain in the 1970s and 80s, looking back at a time when left-wing ideas occupied the moral and political high ground of British intellectual life. The series revisits a passionate and turbulent era when the extreme Left was a serious and significant political force. Weaving together interviews and archive footage, each film relives a different moment and a different milieu.
PROPERTY IS THEFT
Ep 1 documents a squatted street in Brixton in the 1970s. The lifestyle in Villa Road epitomized the ideals of the late 1970s – communal living, collective action and an unswerving commitment to Marxist ideology.
ANGRY WIMMIN
Ep 2 charts the rise and fall of an extreme strain of feminism, which came out of Leeds in the late 1970s and early 80s. ‘Revolutionary Feminists’ castigated the mainstream of the women’s movement for being soft on men. They called on women to become ‘political lesbians’, believing that women would never be free until they withdrew from sexual relations with men.
A LOT OF BALLS
Ep 3 tells the story of the News on Sunday, an attempt by a small group of far left individuals to launch a left-wing mass market Sunday tabloid. The film borrows its title from the paper’s ill-fated advertizing campaign; “No tits, but a lot of balls” – just one in a seemingly endless series of mistakes made in the course of the paper’s disastrously short life. The paper went bust in June 1987, its demise mirroring the demise of the Left in the late 1980s.
PRESS
““This was an excellent programme in an excellent series whose only problem was that it was too short. Impressive, powerful and funny”
The Financial Times”
““An extraordinary documentary series”
The Guardian ”
““A fascinating series of films”
The Daily Telegraph”
““Wonderfully poignant”
The Sunday Times”
““Riveting”
The Evening Standard”
““A superb trio of films”
The Guardian”
CREDITS
Producer/director: VANESSA ENGLE
Camera: JOHANN PERRY
Sound: MARC HATCH
Assistant producer: SATIYESH MANOHARAJAH, HANNAH ROBSON
Film editor: SEAN MACKENZIE, KATE SPANKIE, GUY CROSSMAN, DAVID MURRAY
Executive producer: ANTHONY WALL
AWARDS
Winner of the Gold Plaque for Best Social/Political documentary at the Hugo Awards at the Chicago International Festival.
