It’s been 20 years since I last saw Julien and suddenly there we are yakking away again on the balcony of the Duke of York’s cinema in Brighton. The sky is a beautiful blue and, as the beers go down, he visibly relaxes. He is in the third week of promotion for his new and splendid documentary ‘Strummer’ and is here to do a Q&A session with the audience, moderated by Ian Haydn Smith, after they have seen the film.
He had been editing a pop video until 5am that morning and was wearing wraparound shades as a result. He was heading back to his home in Somerset that night and then was off to the Cannes Film Festival, followed by the Berlin Festival, then flying direct to Australia, where he is filming an opera on-stage as well as on the streets. Then on to Seattle and New York I think he said. No rest for this man. Meanwhile he is laying plans for his next major project – ‘Kinkdom Come’, a full length documentary on the Kinks.
I had been chasing Julien for weeks and this was the only opportunity we could snatch for a chat, in the cinema’s café, which means there is a lot of ambient atmosphere on this recording – people coming and going, sirens in the street, the sound of the bar staff in action. But Julien’s voice cuts through the clatter and what he has to say is, as ever, interesting and thoughtful.
‘Strummer’, now out on a general release with a DVD package with added extras to follow, is his celebratory tribute to his friend Joe Strummer, who is still sadly missed. It is a brilliant piece of work which follows his equally stunning and valuable documentaries on the Sex Pistols. (‘The Filth and Fury’) and on the history of the Glastonbury Festival. All three will stand for all time as important records of these major cultural figures and events. It’s about time he was recognised and celebrated as one of Britain’s most innovative and hard-working filmmakers.
See official film site
www.joestrummerthemovie.com
Files
Interview, MP3 size: 21.8mb, Length: 00:41:17
CDN Link - Direct Link