“The performer out there takes the risk,” Grace Jones tells us at the start of the new trailer for Bloodlight and Bami. She’s silhouetted, bathed in yellow spotlight, in the centre of the shot, explaining in her unmistakable low and commanding tone: “It’s a lonely place. But it’s a fascinating lonely place.” Instantly, you know that Sophie Fiennes’s documentary on the fascinating, risk-taking star is going to be good.
The new trailer for Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami gives us our first proper look at the hotly anticipated documentary, which explores both the private and public worlds of the singer, and will launch with a one-night-only special event on 25 October, when it will be broadcast cinemas nationwide followed by a live Q&A with Grace Jones “and friends”.
The product of five years of filming with Grace, Sophie Fiennes cut footage from live performances — in all their hula-hooping disco glory — with scenes from the singer’s personal life and family home in Jamaica. The director said: “This film began in a collaborative creative spirit. Grace had fiercely controlled her public image, but made the brave decision to un-mask.” Reflecting Grace’s Jamaican roots, the name recalls the patois for the little red light that beams when someone is recording ‘Bloodlight’ and the word for bread, ‘Bami’. 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.”
Editor’s note: this article was updated with the UK version of the trailer.