A film by Sophie Fiennes.

 

 

One night only special event

Grace Jones and Friends Live 25 October 2017

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami 27 October 2017

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

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Grace Jones and Friends Live (one night only event October 25) promises to be a thrilling and enlightening evening with the inimitable icon, as she discusses her life and work with some of her closest collaborators, from the worlds of music, fashion, art and film, following an exclusive preview of Sophie Fiennes’ highly anticipated new film Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.

To find your closest cinema and book tickets for Grace Jones and Friends Live go to Gracejonestickets.co.uk  

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Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (opening in cinemas nationwide on October 27) re-invents the music film as an electrifying journey through the performance, private and public worlds of pop cultural icon Grace Jones, whose bold aesthetic echoes throughout the film. Director Sophie Fiennes (The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology, The Pervert’s Guide To Cinema, Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow) creates a powerful cinematic experience, contrasting breathtaking musical sequences with intimate personal footage, ultimately reaching beyond the iconic mask. In Jamaican patois, ‘Bloodlight’ is the red light that illuminates when an artist is recording and ‘Bami’ means bread, the substance of daily life.

The film also features renowned photographer and Jones’ frequent creative collaborator Jean-Paul Goude, as well as Jamaican duo Sly and Robbie.

 

Fiennes, who spent over 5 years with Grace, says

This film began in a collaborative creative spirit. Grace had fiercely controlled her public image, but made the bold decision to un-mask. She never sought to control my shooting process, and I didn’t second-guess the narrative of the film as I was shooting. I just gathered evidence. The film is a deliberately present-tense experience; for me this is the thrill-ride of verité cinema.

Larger than life, wild, scary and androgynous – Grace Jones plays all these parts. Yet here we also discover her as a lover, daughter, mother, sister and even grandmother, as she submits herself to our gaze and allows us to understand what constitutes her mask. The stage is where her most extreme embodiments are realised and her theatrical imagination lets loose: where the musical of her life is played out. The film includes unique performances of Slave To The Rhythm, Pull Up To The Bumper, as well as the more recent autobiographical tracks Williams’ Bloods and Hurricane. These personal songs also link to Grace’s family life, as the film takes us on a holiday road trip across Jamaica, where her roots and the story of her traumatic childhood are uncovered. Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami weaves together the layers of Jones’ public and private life, as she moves effortlessly between different facets: she is a traveller, artist and partying hedonist, warm and funny but also a fierce and tenacious businesswoman. This is a Grace we have not seen before; someone who reminds us what it is to dare to be truly alive.

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami is produced by Katie Holly (Love & Friendship, The Queen Of Ireland, Citadel) of Dublin-based Blinder Films, alongside Sophie Fiennes, Shani Hinton and Beverly Jones. The film is backed by BBC Films (Brooklyn, I Daniel Blake), the BFI (45 Years, Lady Macbeth), the Irish Film Board (Room, Love & Friendship) and Roads Entertainment (Being AP, Forever Pure).

Executive producers also include James Wilson (Under The Skin, Shaun Of The Dead, 20,000 Days On Earth), Francesca Von Hapsburg (Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present) and Émilie Blézat. The hats worn by Grace in the film are created by haute couture designer Philip Treacy. The staging for the performance sequences are based on the concepts designed for Grace Jones by Oscar winning designer, the late Eiko Isioka.