Joy Division

In 1976, four young men from ruined, post-industrial Manchester went to see the Sex Pistols. They formed a band, Joy Division. It was “a right laugh”. Three years later it was a matter of art, life and death. 30 years later they are enjoying a larger audience and more influence than ever before with a profound legacy that resonates fiercely in today’s heavily careerist music industry and over-mediated pop culture. Featuring the unprecedented participation of the surviving band members, this film tells their story of beauty and loss in the city. In 1980, aged 15, I bought a copy of Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” album. It was the single most beautiful object I’d ever possessed and the first record I’d ever heard that didn’t just spit out sounds but seemed to create a whole new landscape. (Grant Gee)