The Last American Freak Show
Plus post-film discussion: with Richard Butchins, Mat Fraser (Musician, actor and presenter) and Lisa Blackman (Senior Lecture in Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London). Chaired by Michael Brooke (Curator, Screenonline, at the BFI National Archive and a regular contributor to Sight & Sound)
Tickets: £10.00/8.00The box office has now closed for this film.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last American Freak Show.
Careering across America in a ramshackle old school bus, run on stolen vegetable oil and piloted by Lowrent the Clown, Samantha X and Dylan have started their own show, staring such self-defined freaks as The Lobster Girl, The Half Woman, Dame Demure, and The Elephant Man. This motley crew of outsiders are resurrecting the dying art of the sideshow, but with attitude. They flaunt their disability – what makes them ‘different’ is also what unites them.
Disabled people calling themselves freaks, enjoying it, and hitting the road to exhibit their deformities, tell their stories and entertain a paying audience. This is about as far removed from the clichés of representing disability in cinema as it is possible to be and challenges society’s entrenched notion of the ‘freak’.
Destined to be a classic, The Last American Freak Show is an evocative, compelling, often funny and personal documentary looking into the world of the disabled and the idea of the sideshow. A world you probably never knew existed.
To read our interview with director Richard Butchins, click here.
To read our review of the film, click here.
Director: Richard Butchins
Producer: Richard Butchins / Tim Sparks
Cinematographer: Naiti Gamez / Richard Butchins / Billy Macartney
Music: Sour Mash Hug Band / That damned band
Country: United States of America
Length: 85 minutes
Official film website
Fantastic film. Really thought provoking.
I enjoyed watching the divisions that emerged within the group of ‘freaks’, and the conflicts that they had with each other regarding the moral vindication for their action.
Particularly poignant moment was where The Elephant Man became ostracised from the rest of the group – not all freaks are created equal it seems.
Really enjoyed the post-film discussion with Richard, Matt and others. And thanks for the kazoo band… I’m thinking of forming my own!
Really fantastic film …. and really really thought provoking.
Besides being really real, this film has stirred something in me.
When i look beyond the disabilities and the abnormalities of the body the film describes beautifully something about community, something about the human desire to group, to socialise, to communicate, to share, and to have a laugh…..
Richard Butchins has captured something that is both timeless and global.
Everyone should see this film at least once.
Where and when can i see this film again?