Queer Edward II brings unseen Jarman footage to London after Venice premiere
Thirty hours of film-set footage unseen for decades will reach a festival audience in London this month.
Queer Edward II, the directorial feature debut from Theo Rollason, screens at the 70th BFI London Film Festival starting on Oct. 11, after its world premiere — its first public showing — at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film looks behind the scenes of Edward II, the 1991 film from British director and gay rights activist Derek Jarman. Jarman’s version was a gay love story with a bloody ending, the same outlet reported.
The new documentary is built around material shot by Irish cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. Jarman invited McGarvey to film behind the scenes during the Edward II shoot, and the resulting 30 hours stayed unseen for decades until Rollason was asked to go through it, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That archive captures actor Tilda Swinton and costume designer Sandy Powell at work on Jarman’s set. Swinton was a close collaborator of Jarman, and Powell went on to become one of Britain’s best-known costume designers.
Queer Edward II is a Lightborn Films production in association with March 13th and John Gore Studios. Sales, meaning finding buyers for cinemas and other platforms in different countries, are handled by After Hours and Cinephil, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In London, the film is listed as a 2026 UK production in English with a runtime of 97 minutes, according to the BFI. It is scheduled for Oct. 11, 13 and 18 at the festival, according to Sight and Sound.
The run-up to Venice brought early attention. The Hollywood Reporter released an exclusive clip centred on Jarman’s shoot and the political backlash around it, and published a review of the documentary after its premiere. Rollason also discussed discovering Jarman and assembling the film in an interview with Deadline.
What makes this stand out for festivalgoers is the time gap. The footage was made for one production in the early 1990s, stored away, then shaped into a separate film more than 30 years later.
