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STUDIO ONE FOREVER
Directed by Marc Saltarelli
Certificate: 15
☆☆☆☆☆

OTHER people’s drug stories are never, ever, interesting, unless you happen to be Hunter S Thompson.

So the idea of a full-length documentary about a long-defunct, famous 1970s LA nightclub and its goings-on at first might seem like a must-miss.

But this story of Los Angeles venue Studio One is much more than reminiscing of good times had. As one talking head says, “New York had Stonewall. San Francisco had the assassination of Harvey Milk. People did not know what Los Angeles had – but we had Studio One.”

The story of Studio One brings together a range of performers, DJs, clubbers and promoters. It brings alive a crucial moment in modern gay culture: the rise of disco, the battle for equality, and then the awful rise of the Aids epidemic.

It tells how influential the space was, how it was run, set-up, and managed to keep its head above the water.

We also hear how the Backlot Theatre behind the venue gave amazing opportunities to a huge range of acts, and the stars who graced the stage and the dance floor.

The club remained for 19 years until there was an overload of disco: it stopped being fun, the owners were no longer on the ball, and the club went into decline.

But the stories of the gay men who found a sanctuary there are so incredibly moving and important to lodge.

Sadly, it is not all about the people who created a cultural movement. We hear of the terrible incident when a homophobic thug attacked two men outside the club, followed them in a truck and rammed their car. One of the men died. His killer spent just three years behind bars.

What had become a sanctuary to gay men has now become a very much straight club, and to the horror of those revisiting, they found the attached theatre has become a pole-dancing venue.

And then the rundown-looking warehouse of a building is under threat from demolition – and the wreckers’ ball has helped gather together those for whom the club meant so, so much. Hearing their testimonies are uplifting and a reminder of how we can never rest up in the battle for freedom and equality.

But as well as a reminder of troubling times, we hear some lovely stories about the friendships forged, the relationships made, and the brilliant sense of solidarity and above all pure joy.