Sophie Fiennes’ anticipated documentary Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami will launch with a one-night-only special event on 25 October that will be broadcast live to cinemas across the country. The event, dubbed Grace Jones and Friends Live, will include a screening of the film — which goes on general release 27 October — followed by a Q&A with Grace Jones and a number of her collaborators from across fashion, film, music and art.
i-D has your first look at the documentary, exclusively unveiling the striking film poster — a chopped up and layered image of Grace Jones singing into a microphone, reflecting the iconic imagery she created in the 70s and 80s with Jean-Paul Goude (who appears in the film).
Titled using the Jamaican patois for the red studio ‘recording’ light — Bloodlight — and the word for bread — Bami (“the substance of daily life” the release explains) — the film promises a view of the legendary model, actor and musician’s life both in and out of the spotlight. Director Sophie Fiennes filmed Grace over more than a decade for the project (starting in 2005), and has woven footage from Grace’s archive with film from a road trip across Jamaica and performance sequences of tracks including Slave To The Rhythm and Pull Up To The Bumper.
When the film launched at Cannes in May, Grace Jones told Screen Daily, “This is the first time people will see me in this way. They will see a very candid portrayal. It is raw. It will be like seeing me almost naked.” “I’m very happy with the film,” she added, “I didn’t feel like it was an invasion. It was a very smooth and comfortable process”.
“This film began in a collaborative creative spirit. Grace had fiercely controlled her public image, but made the bold decision to un-mask,” director Sophie Fiennes says in a statement. “She never sought to control my shooting process, and I didn’t second-guess the narrative of the film as I was shooting. I just gathered evidence. The film is a deliberately present-tense experience; for me this is the thrill-ride of verité cinema.”
Tickets for Grace Jones and Friends Live screenings at cinemas across the UK on 25 October are on sale now.
Read: What Grace Jones taught me about fashion and ferocity
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush
Photography courtesy Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami