A look at the life of John Cooper Clarke. From his rise as a 'punk poet', through his heroin addiction, and finally to his comeback.

Shadowplayers is a two hour documentary film by James Nice tracing the early history of iconic Manchester Label Factory Records between 1978 and 1981. The facts and the fictions are explored through candid interviews with 22 key participants, including Anthony H. Wilson (Founder) and Peter Saville (Designer), as well as musicians including Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Vini Reilly (Durutti Common), Simon Topping and Martin Moscrop (A Certain Ratio), Chris Watson (Cabaret Voltaire) and Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks/Magazine). The film is divided into 19 chapters, covering subjects such as The Factory Club, sleeve art and graphic design, producer Martin Hannett, the riot at the Joy Division concert at Bury in April 1980, The Factory Beneleux connection, the tragic suicide of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, the beginnings of New Order, and the decline of the post-punk culture in 1981.

Carol Morley returns to Manchester, where in the early 1980s, five years of her life were lost in an alcoholic blur. The Alcohol Years is a poetic retrieval of that time, in which rediscovered friends and acquaintances recount tales of her drunken and promiscuous behavior. In Morley’s search for her lost self, conflicting memories and viewpoints weave in and out, revealing a portrait of the city, its pop culture, and the people who lived it.

The acclaimed live concert film by Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column, recorded in Tokyo in April 1985. Domo Arigato followed on the heels of ambitious ‘modern classical’ album Without Mercy a year earlier, and saw composer / guitarist Vini Reilly and percussionist Bruce Mitchell augmented by John Metcalfe on viola and Tim Kellet on trumpet. Their show-cum-recital at the Kan’i Hoken Hall on 25 April was recorded digitally and filmed on two 35mm cameras.