<strong>Peter Bradshaw:</strong> This poignant acunt of an unlikely alliance between gay activists and strikg mers has strong ronanc today
Contents:
- WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
- PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS
- MATTHEW WARCH: WHY I MA A ROM ABOUT GAY ACTIVISTS AND STRIKG MERS
- PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER
WHEN MERS AND GAY ACTIVISTS UNED: THE REAL STORY OF THE FILM PRI
To reunt the story of how gay activists joed forc wh Brish mers 1984-85, the creators of “Pri” tracked down participants and extracted their stori, warts and all. * pride gay miners *
" He acknowledg now that this is a le you n only e once a pch and explas that he went on to tell the story of mers the Dulais valley South Wal durg the 1984-5 strike – the longt Brish history – and a gay and lbian group om London that donated more money (£11, 000 by December 1984) to their e than any other fundraiser the UK, along wh a mib emblazoned wh the logo LGSM: Lbians and Gays Support the a when a gree of homophobia was the norm, LGSM drove a uple of mib om Hackney Communy Transport and a clapped-out VW mper van to a bleak mg town South Wal to prent their donatns, uncerta what sort of wele to expect. "The story had bee a legend the gay muny.
Three years later and the film, shot Banwen, Wal, and London, and directed by Tony-wng Matthew Warch (rponsible for Matilda the Mil, and soon to be artistic director of the Old Vic), is might assume a rom about strikg mers and 80s gays was unlikely to be big box-office, but the same was probably said of Billy Ellt.
It is really illogil to say, 'I'm gay and I'm to fendg the gay muny but I don't re about anythg else…'. "In the homema LGSM documentary, we also glimpse a tall, handsome fellow wearg groovy leather troers, shakg a donatns bucket outsi Gay's the Word bookshop London's Marchmont Street – this is Jonathan Blake.
PRI REVIEW – WHEN GAY ACTIVISTS STCK A AL WH MERS
Pri: Directed by Matthew Warch. Wh Ben Schzer, Abram Rooney, Jim McMan, Gee MacKay. U.K. gay activists work to help mers durg their lengthy strike of the Natnal Unn of Meworkers the summer of 1984." data-id="ma * pride gay miners *
She explas how the gay muny ted the mg muny: "Their stggle is siar to our own. Cliff, an olr mer ( the film, a killgly funny and affectg Bill Nighy) appears the documentary sayg: "The lbians and gays have been super duper.
"We need a character who, like the dience, arriv bewilred at a Gay Pri march. Now his ey she as he remembers the Welsh mers who me to London to march wh Gay Pri June 1985.
MATTHEW WARCH: WHY I MA A ROM ABOUT GAY ACTIVISTS AND STRIKG MERS
<strong>Alex von Tunzelmann:</strong> Gay mpaigners jo 80s Bra’s strikg mers this well-rearched film that still skips around thorny issu of socialism and a n- wh the Sun * pride gay miners *
One hope is that the film might revive polil tert bee the activism of the left has been siled, the tra unns are weak, gay rights issu aren't there. Our first sightg of him is wh fox fur and whistle outsi Gay's the Word book shop.
"Wh the South Wal mers at the 1985 Labour party nference, we put gay rights on the agenda. Tim were tougher for lbians and gay men then.
We were well ed to homophobia. But the nsens was: we have been monised by the prs, maybe we should meet the gay people bee they've also been monised.
PRI: A HEARTBREAKG BRISH COMEDY ABOUT THE TIME GAYS AND MERS WORKED TOGETHER
* pride gay miners *
" It was not long before Welsh mers warmed to their e: "They started wearg gay badg on their lapels. "Mike marvels at how tim have changed for homosexuals the metropolan first world: "It is unbelievable, we have ma such progrs.
Until I was 13, homosexualy was a crime – like makg beg black a crime. Nowadays, is unol for straight men to be disparagg about gay men. And when he has to make a speech a gay bar wh a clientele whose look is more S&M than M&S, you fear for him – how is all gog to pan out?
He says: "Gog to a gay club London was fely somethg I'd never envisaged dog. We know about blacks and gays and nuclear disarmament and we will never be the same.
<p>New film Pri follows a group of gay activists who set out to help strikg mers – only to fd their support isn't wele. Ahead of s premiere at Cann on Thursday, s director explas why the story felt so personal</p> * pride gay miners *
Twenty-seven gay people ( the film is a dozen) slept on his floor – the morng, his six-year-old dghter "uldn't put her foot down".
We knew gay people existed – my dad worked wh a mer who was gay – but nobody openly talked about ; was nsired very personal.
Blake, an actor om London, was part of an unlikely missn: A small group of gays and lbians were on their way to liver money and food they had llected for a town of mers who were on strike to fight p closgs proposed by Prime Mister Margaret Thatcher. Blake and his iends had no ia whether their donatns would be met wh gratu, homophobia or distst of all thgs London their first meetg wh the mers. Among s real-life characters are gay activists like Mr.