DOC’N’ROLL FILM FESTIVAL 2025
12th EDITION
23 OCTOBER – 9 NOVEMBER 2025
THE FILM FESTIVAL THAT GOES ONE LOUDER!
London, September 23, 2025 – In a world that feels increasingly fractured, Doc’n Roll Film Festival – “the Glastonbury of music movie fests”, according to Time Out – returns for its 12th edition with a lineup of films celebrating artists who refuse to bend, break or conform. From punk to jazz and blues, house and electronica to soul, art-rock to industrial, Celtic folk and Cuban nueva trova to queer chart pop, this year’s programme spotlights fearless creative spirits who have shifted the cultural landscape.
From world premieres including How Tanita Tikaram Became a LIAR, Pieces of Heaven: Porridge Radio, Rockers Don’t Stop: The Revival of Rockers Revenge, and Sound of a Dream: Lee Burridge, to international premieres exploring legends including Dónal Lunny, Lebanon Hanover, Pablo Milanès and Dean Johnson, the festival brings together stories of rebellion, resilience, transformation and joy.
The festival kicks off at the Barbican with the UK premiere of I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock’s wry, pugnacious and frequently hilarious cinematic memoir, and will go on to spotlight DIY spirit, independent music and marginalised voices during the whole of its 18-day run. This year’s programme includes 20 feature films and 8 shorts, with 6 World premieres, 12 UK premieres and 2 London premieres in a celebration of music on screen: loud, vital and unafraid. BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, Rio Cinema and are included amongst ten festival venues.
We’ll be covering several highlights for FOXES, including:
UK Premieres
I WAS A TEENAGE SEX PISTOL – GLEN MATLOCK
Nick Mead, Andre Relis | US | 2025 | 90 min
A compelling filmic setting for the wry, honest and often hilarious firsthand stories of Glen Matlock, the founding member of the Sex Pistols who co-wrote ten of the 12 iconic songs on their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, only to have his contributions later downplayed. Hear his account of the Pistols’ rise in a frank, insightful portrait of a group of malcontents determined to change the music business and attack society’s hypocrisy and stale conventions. Vividly evoking the bleakness of the UK in the early Seventies that was the backdrop to the excitement of the exploding punk scene, we hear of the provocations of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's SEX shop, bandmate Steve Jones's thieving, the band’s search for a singer, bust-ups, fan fervour and tabloid outrage.
SCREENING (Q&A WITH GLEN MATLOCK): 30 October 2025 at 20:00, LONDON - HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE
BOY GEORGE & CULTURE CLUB
Alison Ellwood | US / UK | 2025 | 96 min
Culture Club shot by Derek Ridgers
A provocative, chaotic and impossibly fun look at one of music’s most groundbreaking bands. An intimate portrait of Culture Club’s rise to fame, dramatic split, and remarkable reunion for the film. For the first time, Boy George, Roy Hay, Mikey Craig and Jon Moss come together to share their story, offering candid insights into their creative process and personal relationships, and the band’s towering cultural impact. Set against the backdrop of 1980s Britain, the documentary explores how four young men formed a multi-racial, ethnically diverse and sexually liberated band with a style and sound that challenged the status quo during the era of New Romantics and Margaret Thatcher. At the heart of the documentary lies the love story between Boy George and Jon Moss, which not only inspired some of the band’s biggest hits, but also contributed to Culture Club’s eventual breakup. Drawing on both unprecedented access to the band members and extensive archival footage, the film examines everything from their innovative songwriting process and global success to their boundary-pushing fashion choices and fiery inter-band dynamics.
SCREENING (Q&A): 04 November 2025 at 18:00, LONDON - BFI IMAX
World Premieres
HOW TANITA TIKARAM BECAME A LIAR
Natacha Horn| UK | 2025 | 53 mins
An anti-documentary directed by filmmaker Natacha Horn, who is also Tanita Tikaram’s wife, and a cinematic portrait that reveals the maverick music icon as never before. Tikaram delivers, in her own words, a raw, political and personal account of life as a brown, queer woman growing up in the UK, echoing the themes of her new album LIAR (Love Isn’t A Right), the sequel to her multi-million selling debut Ancient Heart.
SCREENING (Q&A WITH DIRECTOR AND TANITA TIKARAM): 09 November 2025 at 18:00, LONDON - BFI SOUTHBANK
ROCKERS DON’T STOP: THE REVIVAL OF ROCKERS REVENGE // ARTHUR BAKER
Arthur Baker | US | 2025 | 76 min
A comeback story with grit and groove. New York's 1980's Dance pioneers Rockers Revenge reunite decades later to finally record their debut album, transforming nostalgia into a powerful journey of friendship, resilience, and unfinished dreams. From the frontlines of New York’s COVID crisis to the pulse of Black Lives Matter, their music channels loss, hope, and defiance. Directed by legendary DJ and music producer Arthur Baker – whose collaborations with New Order, Afrika Bambaataa, Bruce Springsteen and Al Green defined an era – this film spans 30 years yet feels urgently of the moment - a testament to survival, second chances, and the unstoppable spirit of Rockers Revenge.
SCREENING (Q&A): 08 November 2025 at 18:15, LONDON - BFI SOUTHBANK NFT1
SCREENING (Q&A): 09 November 2025 at 16:00, BRIGHTON - DUKE'S @ KOMEDIA
MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE
Elegance Bratton | US| 2025 | 88 mins
A celebration of the sound that emerged from Chicago’s South Side and sparked a global movement of freedom and radical togetherness. Just as disco was collapsing, young Chicagoan Vince Lawrence embarked on a journey that would change music history. From his father’s record store to the South Side’s underground clubs, Vince and a group of visionary friends experimented with drum machines and synthesizers, crafting a revolutionary new sound: house music. Elegance Bratton’s joyous film is an electrifying tribute to the pioneers who turned a local scene into a worldwide phenomenon. Drawing on rare archival footage and vibrant interviews, the film chronicles how house music transcended genre to become a movement of liberation, unity and pure, undiluted bliss.
SCREENING: 06 November 2025 at 18:15, LONDON - BFI IMAX
In a cultural moment that often feels fractured, Doc’n’Roll remains a vital reminder of how music — in all its raw, radical, and romantic forms — continues to connect us.
🎟 Tickets & full programme
📅 23 October – 9 November 2025 · London