Punk Brighton

Punk Brighton has its world premiere at Duke of York's Picturehouse on Wednesday 28 October, starting at 18:20. It's a documentary from the Doc'n Roll Film Festival, and the screening is followed by a Q&A session. The film itself runs for 120 minutes, so you'll be in for a full evening.

The story is set beneath Brighton's waves and follows a punk revolution driven by The Piranhas, The Depressions and Peter & The Test Tube Babies. At the centre of it all is The Vault, an underground burial crypt that became a legendary gig venue. It took 15 years of interviews, performances and animation to pull it together, and it looks at a scene that confronted fascism, fought racism and campaigned to save Brighton & Hove Albion, while celebrating the city's DIY spirit. Fatboy Slim makes an appearance, and the film spotlights two figures who defined the era: Attrix Records founder Rick Blair and The Piranhas' Bob Grover.

There's a bit of a full-circle moment with the venue, too. Duke of York's Picturehouse is the UK's oldest purpose-built cinema, a Grade II-listed building that opened on 22 September 1910 on the site of the Amber Ale Brewery — those walls still form the rear of the auditorium. It's been running as an arts cinema since 1981, but before Picturehouse bought it in 1994, it hosted illegal punk rock concerts. So the film is being shown in a place that once played host to the very thing it's about.

If you can't make the Brighton date, there's a further Q&A screening on 29 October at 20:30 at Rio Cinema in London. The film is certified 18.