Queer Edward II
A Lightborn Films Production in association with March 13th and John Gore Studios
Spring 1991: queer life is under renewed attack in Britain, and filmmaker Derek Jarman is adapting Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II into a radical protest film. Drawing on extraordinary never-before-seen footage shot by Seamus McGarvey on Jarman’s set, Queer Edward II is about the refusal to separate art from life, politics from pleasure.
“ The films are of no consequence, and no interest.
What is of interest is law reform, and to give solidarity to other people. That’s the only reason for making them in this way. But it’s a very good reason. It leaves my peers with no good reason except their vanity in their attempt to make a good film.
I have another agenda. ”
Synopsis
In 1991, Derek Jarman sets out to adapt Edward II — a gay love story with a bloody ending — into a film that will speak directly to the homophobia of the era. New legislation threatens to criminalise consenting gay behaviour, and the tabloids are baying for blood.
Recently diagnosed with HIV and unwilling to play nice, Jarman throws his lot in with the radicals. He casts fellow activists from OutRage! as extras and channels the energy of injustice and protest into his film.
Young cameraman Seamus McGarvey captures a buzzing, joyful set: a pack of beagles let loose, drag nuns on a smoke break, an impromptu naked rugby scrum. Meanwhile, Jarman courts controversy from all sides, chastising fellow activists in print and getting himself arrested at OutRage! demos.
What begins as a low-budget period drama spirals into scandal as protesters from Outrage! cause a ruckus on a neighbouring sound stage. The tabloids quickly catch wind, sending the production into panic.
At the centre of the ensuing debate on privacy and protest is Jarman, mischievous, uncompromising — and living on borrowed time. As the shoot wraps, his importance to his filmmaking family comes into focus. And in an epilogue, a vote on gay rights erupts into a full-blown riot, driven on by Jarman's defiant spirit.
Director statement
When I was first approached to look through unseen rushes shot on the set of Edward II – which had been sat in a cupboard for over thirty years – I hoped there might be enough material for a short. Instead, I was astonished to find a comprehensive record of Jarman’s idiosyncratic filmmaking practice, capturing everything from rehearsals to intimate conversations to production office dramas. What really struck me, however, was the set’s embrace of the 1990s political climate, particularly regarding gay rights.
That Derek Jarman was a political artist is immediately apparent from the films themselves. Less clear to me was his active involvement with the movement: his decision to become the first public figure in the UK to disclose his HIV status, and his association with OutRage! in particular. As a queer filmmaker born just after Jarman’s death, I saw a clear opportunity to use the Edward II set as a springboard to discuss what I wish I’d known: just how high the stakes were for the community at this historical moment, and Jarman’s centrality to the struggle that followed.
My perspective is shaped by a belief that queer history is too often depoliticised and reduced to respectable narratives of progress, rather than the messy, confrontational movements that made that progress possible. With anti-trans rhetoric and attacks on queer rights again intensifying, I hope the film can function not simply as a snapshot of a historical moment, but as a reminder of what collective resistance can look like – and what role art has to play.
Produced by
Ben Fowlie
Sebastien Rabas
Producer
Michael Sherman p.g.a.
Editors
Nicole Hálová
Theo Rollason
Supervising Editor
Joe Bini
Cinematographer
Seamus McGarvey BSC, ASC
Composer
Simon Fisher Turner
Executive Producers
Ahmad Ahmadzadeh
Joe Bini
John Gore
Francis Hopkinson
Nevine Mabro
Seamus McGarvey
Luke W. Moody
Sandy Powell
Tilda Swinton
Hilary Strong
Russell Tovey
Christine Vachon
Associate Producer
Sarah Swords
Senior Archive Producer
Dora Ash Sakula
Archive Producer
Neo Michael
Sound Design
Siim Skepast
Assistant Producer
Jonathan Lack
Production Assistant
Tabby Carless-Frost
The team
Director
Theo Rollason
Theo is a London-based filmmaker with a background in editing. They have also worked as a film critic, programmer, and archivist for the estate of the artist Paula Rego. They recently co-directed the BFI-funded short film “Out of the Peat” with Tabby Carless-Frost. Queer Edward II is their debut feature.