Man On His Mind: A Night with Eric Gibbins & The Buckfast Players
TBC 120 mins
TBC 120 mins
Experience four rare short films from the 1950s and 1960s by Cambridge-based gay amateur filmmaker Eric Gibbins, presented by the East Anglian Film Archive and Queer Norfolk.
Each film explores love, secrecy, and longing with striking tenderness, from the romantic and remarkable depiction of a gay relationship in Man On His Mind, to the covert struggle of unfulfilled and fleeting connections depicted through heterosexual affairs in the other three films. With the help of actors and crew from his theatre troupe, The Buckfast Players, Gibbins evokes the dreams of those living hidden lives in mid-century Britain.
These films were rediscovered through the Community Curating Project, a collaboration between Queer Norfolk and the East Anglian Film Archive with support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.
The Hour Before Love (1957): In a rural town, an affair between an older woman and a younger man faces the harsh glare of gossip and judgment.
The Innocent (1961): A young man returns with his girlfriend to his childhood home, where memories of first love and the pain of growing up resurface.
White Tie and Marmalade (c. 1961): A glamorous couple’s night out takes a surreal turn when car trouble leads to an encounter with a mysterious woman by the river.
Man On His Mind (c. 1958): After a breakup, DB is haunted by memories, until fate reunites him with his partner in a quietly groundbreaking embrace, set to “Unchained Melody”.