Brighton Bandits

<<Go back to films

UK/2007/40mins/DV/English
Direction, camera and editing by Ian McDonald
Produced by Geetha J. for Interventions
Watch Trailer

Synopsis

Brighton Bandits is the first ever in-depth documentary about a gay football team. It debunks the myth that gay men don’t play football. The Bandits were crowned Gay Football League Champions in 2006. In following the team’s quest to retain their title, Brighton Bandits not only captures the passion for football in the gay community but also allows the players to emerge as people with bold and poignant stories to tell. They also raise issues that trouble them from the camp hedonism of the gay scene to the future of a Gay Football League. Sprinkled with humour and pathos, Brighton Bandits moves rhythmically between thought-provoking views to football action. With no commentary and no musical score in the film, the voices of the players and the sounds of the pitch keep it raw and real.

Screenings

February 2013: University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
July 2012: ISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport, Glasgow, UK
March 2012: International Festival of Sport Movies, Moscow, Russia
August 2011: American Sociological Association, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA
July 2011: Understanding the Social World Conference, University of Huddersfield, UK
February 2011: Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Gender and Sexuality Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
January 2010: Reel Out Queer Film and Video Festival, Kingston, Ontario Canada
October 2009: Reel Affirmations LGBT Film Festival, Washington DC, USA
October 2009: Tampa Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, Florida, USA
March 2009: Sport, Sexuality and Culture International Conference, Ithaca College, New York State, USA
March 2009: The Justin Campaign Football Festival, Brighton, UK
November 2008: The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference, Denver, USA
October 2008: Outsiders: The Liverpool LGBT Film Festival, UK
October 2008: Mitchell and Kenyon Cinema, UCLan, Preston, UK
August 2008: International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championship, London
May 2008: International Day Against Homophobia Screening, The Odeon, Brighton, UK
May 2008: Canadian Sports Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
March 2008: Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Australia
December 2007: Cinecity: the Brighton Film Festival, Brighton, UK