Filmed over a decade, Sophie Fiennes’s documentary Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami will offer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at the icon’s life. “Sometimes you have to be a high-flying bitch,” Jones yells at the beginning of a newly released clip. True.
For almost two minutes we get to sit back and watch Grace Jones become Grace Jones. She stares into a vanity mirror, applying generous amounts of rogue to her face and seamlessly morphing into her signature androgynous, otherworldly persona.
“This film began in a collaborative creative spirit,” director Sophie Fiennes told The Guardian. “Grace had fiercely controlled her public image, but made the bold decision to unmask. 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.”
Fiennes and Jones make sense as a duo. Creating experimental images with Jean-Paul Goude and spearheading cross-dressing in the 80s, Grace Jones has always been attracted to the unconventional. Fiennes past works include a high-brow, psychoanalytic documentary that explores the hidden language and codes of classic films.
“This is the first time people will see me in this way,” Jones said of the upcoming documentary about her life (which will be released in October). “They will see a very candid portrayal. It is raw. It will be like seeing me almost naked.” And what does her day-to-day life look like now? The fashion star is currently back home in Jamaica, working on a new album that she hopes to release this year.
Credits
Text André-Naquian Wheeler
Photography Nick Knight [The Pop Issue, no. 46, 1987]