DEREK JARMAN’S SEBASTIANE: THE REUNION!
JOIN US IN LONDON, at the Gate Cinema
28th October 2026
RESERVE YOUR FREE SEAT HERE (18yrs +)
It was Thursday, 28 October 1976. A typical autumn evening in London. But outside the Gate Cinema in Notting Hill, the atmosphere was electric. A long queue stretched along the pavement, charged with excitement and curiosity. London’s queer community, lovers of avant-garde cinema and cinephiles crowded together for an event that promised to be radical: there was a palpable sense of taking part in something that challenged the taboos of the time. The premiere of Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane is still remembered as a cultural watershed. Audiences were confronted with something completely unprecedented: a British film performed entirely in Latin and subtitled in English. This linguistic estrangement, combined with Brian Eno’s hypnotic score, created a unique atmosphere inside the cinema. Given an X certificate, Sebastiane brought the figure and martyrdom of Saint Sebastian to the big screen through a cathartic, joyful and liberating portrayal of homosexuality, giving queer desire and emotion a dignity rarely, if ever, seen on screen before. In London, the film’s theatrical debut became a commercial triumph. For the gay community of the time, Sebastiane was experienced as a miracle of visibility and pride. For critics, it announced the arrival of the young Derek Jarman as a pioneering new voice in British independent and queer cinema.
SEBASTIANE RETURNS TO LONDON
GATE CINEMA: 28th OCTOBER, 5.30 pm
Exactly 50 years later, on Wednesday 28th October 2026, from 5.30 p.m., Sebastiane returns to London’s Gate Cinema to celebrate Derek Jarman’s bold, innovative vision of art in all its forms. Nothing is forever, least of all when it comes to civil rights. In our own time, it is more important than ever to remember Jarman’s artistic legacy and civic commitment, and to rediscover his poetic and militant manifesto against intolerance.
The evening will bring together, in a public reunion, people who made the film, friends of Derek Jarman and supporters of the spirit and legacy of Sebastiane — keeping alive the extraordinary impact the film had on the history of cinema and on the wider cultural landscape.
It will also be an opportunity to introduce the British-Italian production Loving Sebastiane, a film written and directed by filmmaker Sergio Naitza and produced by Karel and RSH Films. The documentary tells the story of the making of Sebastiane and of the extraordinary encounter between the film crew — which included many young figures from London’s counterculture — and the small farming and shepherding community of Cala Domestica, in the mining region of southern Sardinia, where the film was shot.
RESERVE YOUR FREE SEAT HERE (18yrs +)
Among those taking part will be Sebastiane producer Howard Malin, the film’s sound recordist, and several members of the original cast and crew, including Janusz Romanov, John Scarlett-Davis, Volker Stox and Sir Norman Rosenthal. They will be joined by Jarman’s friends and fellow travellers Andrew Logan, Peter Tatchell and Simon Fisher Turner, filmmaker Theo Rollason, and Amanda Wilkinson, curator of Jarman’s artistic estate. Joining us by video will be Sebastiane’s leading actor Leonardo Treviglio, artist and set photographer Gerald Incandela, and fellow cast member Donald Dunham.
