“It was dangerous to be who we were in those days.” Set in 1980s post-punk London, rabble-rousing documentary Rebel Dykes tells the unheard story of a community of dykes, how they met and collaborated around art, music, politics and sex, and how they went on to change their world.
Directed by Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams, and produced by Riot Productions’ Siobhan Fahey, it follows a tight-knit group of friends who met at Greenham Common peace camp and created an anarchic lesbian power set of artists, performers, musicians and activists in London. Fast-paced, sex-positive and lovingly crafted, it’s an invaluable document of queer history depicting the exhilarating meeting point between punk and LGBTQ activism.
“A heady mash-up of animation, archive footage and interviews tells the story of a radical scene: squatters, BDSM nightclubs, anti-Thatcher rallies, protests demanding action around AIDS and the fierce ties of chosen family. This is an extraordinarily privileged glimpse into a bygone world by those who not only lived out their politics with heartfelt conviction but lived to tell the tale.” (Jay Bernard, BFI Flare)