Jubilee

Derek Jarman (1942-1994) was a radical maverick, an enfant terrible unafraid to rattle the establishment. He was an author, a painter, a gay rights activist, a stage designer, a gardener as well as a film director. He directed 11 feature films – from Sebastian (1976) to Blue (1993), pushing the boundaries of British cinema, signified by experimental techniques and an iconoclast ethos. Jarman worked on the periphery of the film industry, but his films still pertinently managed to mirror, whether consciously or unconsciously, the changing social and political landscape that engulfed England at the time.

When Queen Elizabeth I asks her court alchemist to show her England in the future, she’s transported 400 years to a post-apocalyptic wasteland of roving girl gangs, an all-powerful media mogul, fascistic police, scattered filth, and twisted sex. With Jubilee, legendary British filmmaker Derek Jarman channeled political dissent and artistic daring into a revolutionary blend of history and fantasy, musical and cinematic experimentation, satire and anger, fashion and philosophy. Ahead of its time and often frighteningly accurate in its predictions, it is a fascinating historical document and a gorgeous work of film art.