Cult Brummie film gets rare local screening

Rare and unseen films documenting Birmingham’s punk scene will be screened this weekend by Friction Arts.

Among the films being shown as part of the Punk Heritage Brum 2014 event are The Westerner and live concert footage of The Au Pairs.

Made in 2000 by Selly Oak filmmaker Mark Lynall, musical comedy The Westerner follows a country and western singer inadvertently booked to appear at a Digbeth punk pub and concludes with a hysterical finale featuring dozens of local punks line-dancing to a countrified version of The Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK.

Among the cast are a Mohawk topped Michael Van Wijk (aka Wolf from ’90s TV series Gladiator), plus leading punks Stu Pid (from Police B******, Sensa Yuma etc) and Jock (from GBH).

Aired by Central TV upon completion, the film won Mark the Best New Director award at the Birmingham Film Festival. He moved to the US in 2003, but the film has since taken on something of a mythical status, both locally and further afield.

Thanks to the internet and social media, its reputation has grown considerably in the last few years, resulting in a screening at the Kontrast Film Festival in Bayreuth Germany in February, where it was seen by an audience of 600 people!

The Au Pairs formed in Birmingham in 1978. Firm John Peel favourites, the band released two albums – Playing With A Different Sex and Sense And Sensuality – before splitting in 1983. Renewed interest in the band was sparked by the 2006 compilation album Stepping Out Of Line: The Anthology. Reviewing the 2CD collection, The Guardian praised their “significant feminist, social-commenting agit-funk” and concluded their “… heady, insightful femme punk funk … is ripe for rediscovery.”

Au Pairs Live at Markthalle Hamburg features Jane Munro (bass), Lesley Woods (vocals, guitar), Paul Foad (guitar, backing vocals) and Peter Hammond (drums, percussion) joined by Chris Lee (trumpet) and Keith Knowles (synthesizer), and was recorded in Germany in February 1983.

Also featuring live music and special guests, Punk Heritage Brum 2014 takes place on Saturday 29 March 2014 at The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham B12 0QH from 8pm ‘til late. Tickets: £3 on the door with free to anyone wearing bondage trousers.