This Band Is So Gorgeous! Sham 69 in China

    • Dunstan Bruce
    • England
    • 2011
    • 72 min
    • European Premiere
    • IDFA Competition for Music Documentary
    Back in the heyday of punk, the members of the band Sham 69 had a number of hits. Nowadays, they're all middle-aged and hoping to revive their past success. The e-mail they receive from Ray, a punk singer and tour manager from China, couldn't come at a better time. The punk rockers are getting the chance to write history as the first British punk band to ever tour China. For two weeks, the men travel the country, with Ray as their gracious but inexperienced manager. His English is pitiful, especially after a few beers, and the harder he tries to come across as professional, the less he succeeds. But the show must go on, and the gentlemen of Sham 69 get acquainted with the tiny but fanatical punk scene in this rapidly changing nation. For the band members, this is all one big adventure, and the look of the documentary highlights this. Gritty shots of clubs, long train trips, the arguments that flare up between them, and the voice-over based on observations from the journal of drummer Ian Whitewood all give the viewer the impression that he is watching an intimate video diary.

    Credits

    • 72 min
    • color
    • video
    • Spoken languages: English
    Director
    Dunstan Bruce
    Production
    Dunstan Bruce for Dandy Films
    Executive producer
    Daisy Asquith for Dandy Films
    Cinematography
    Dunstan Bruce, Jon Beacham
    Editing
    James Scott

    IDFA history

    2012
    European Premiere
    IDFA Competition for Music Documentary

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    IDFA history

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