United Kingdom
2026 | 95 min. | Documentary

In 1991, Derek Jarman sets out to adapt Edward II – a gay love story with a bloody ending – into a film that will speak directly to the homophobia of the era. New legislation threatens to criminalise consenting gay behaviour, and the tabloids are baying for blood.
Recently diagnosed with HIV and unwilling to play nice, Jarman throws his lot in with the radicals. He casts fellow activists from OutRage! as extras and channels the energy of injustice and protest into his film.
Young cameraman Seamus McGarvey captures a buzzing, joyful set: a pack of beagles let loose, drag nuns on a smoke break, an impromptu naked rugby scrum. Meanwhile, Jarman courts controversy from all sides, chastising fellow activists in print and getting himself arrested at OutRage! demos.
What begins as a low-budget period drama spirals into scandal as protesters from Outrage! cause a ruckus on a neighbouring sound stage. The tabloids quickly catch wind, sending the production into panic.
At the centre of the ensuing debate on privacy and protest is Jarman, mischievous, uncompromising – and living on borrowed time. As the shoot wraps, his importance to his filmmaking family comes into focus. And in an epilogue, a vote on gay rights erupts into a full-blown riot, driven on by Jarman's defiant spirit.

Directed by: Theo Rollason
Produced by: Sebastien Rabas, Ben Fowlie, Michael Sherman, John Gore
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey
Editing: Nicole Halova, Joe Bini, Theo Rollason
Original Score: Simon Fisher Turner
Sound: Siim Skepast

Statement of the director:
In 2024, I was invited to view a stack of dusty video tapes that had been sitting in storage for over 30 years – abandoned material from a documentary about Derek Jarman. There turned out to be almost 30 hours of behind-the-scenes footage from EDWARD II, filmed by a young Seamus McGarvey.
What I saw was electric: not just a film being made, but a tight-knit community thriving. It felt like stepping onto the set myself. More than that, the footage opened a window onto the queer rights struggle of the early 1990s.
As a queer filmmaker born during the Section 28 years, the necessity of making this film was immediate. What struck me about the footage was how high the stakes were just three decades ago – the tabloid hysteria, institutional hostility, and the ideological clashes within the community about how to respond. And yet, despite it all, the footage brims with humour and joy. QUEER EDWARD II offers a rare chance to finish a film that was never made with the benefit of hindsight – to revive this as both historic document and as a provocation in the face of today’s roll-backs to queer rights: to stay vocal, to stay difficult, and to stay in the fight.

Production:
Lightborn Films Limited
https://www.derekjarmandoc.com

World Sales:
Cinephil
https://www.cinephil.com/

Press/social media agency:
Critical PR
https://www.critical-pr.com/