World Premiere: Screening in the U.S. Documentary Film Competition

A film involving two courageous and innovative artists - one the subject and one the filmmaker - provides a cinematic journey that illuminates the work and enduring importance of the late Derek Jarman.

Derek Jarman made his life a party to which all were invited. Painter, gay militant, Aids activist and, above all, filmmaker, Derek illuminated his time. This unique perspective will provide a counterpoint, as his own images are juxtaposed with the images of the history that generated them. At the centre of the film, the thread from which it is all woven, is the time capsule that Derek left. Before his death, and in the midst of that great creative period that would produce Edward II, Caravaggio and Blue, he recorded a day long interview in 1990 with Colin MacCabe. It is his message in a bottle, a survey of his life from the point of view of his death, a talisman for the future. The present is represented by a letter written to Derek by Tilda Swinton and read by her as a voiceover which provides a beguiling narrative thread throughout the film, bringing his life closer to a new generation, a new audience. Using the skills he has accumulated in a career which ranges from narrative feature to video art, from museum installation to television documentary, Isaac Julien's new film combines document with fiction, experiment with narrative to produce an enthralling film.

Clip Description

Derek Jarman made his life a party to which all were invited. Painter, gay militant, Aids activist and, above all, filmmaker, Derek illuminated his time. Isaac Julien's new film combines document with fiction, experiment with narrative to produce an enthralling film.