Programmed by Sean Burns, A Very Discreet Opening features two films that candidly capture a nascent and energetic ’80s club scene.
Andy the Furniture Maker is the real-life story of a volatile but charming boy who hustles his way into the high-art circles of Derek Jarman and Norman Rosenthal. He moves from a small fishing port to London, where he works as a rent boy, steals cars, drinks too much, and builds spectacular furniture from railway sleepers and disregarded fence posts. Watch it as a reminder of what good television documentaries were like, but also for the incredible soundtrack and haunting re-enactments in long-gone Earl’s Court gay dives.
The DJ and filmmaker Jeffrey Hinton will join Sean Burns to discuss and screen his film Scratch Bowery, a celebration of his life with artist Leigh Bowery. Hinton’s films offer an insight into hidden nightlife worlds with complicated and ongoing histories of queer visibility and liberation. For generations of London’s artists, designers, and club-goers, he continues to be a source of inspiration as well as a confidant, friend and constant.
This event is part of Dorothy Towers Playlist, curated by Sean Burns.
