Wed 26 Aug, 10.30am-1.30pm
FREE
Sid and Nancy: Myth, Media & the Punk as Product
The angle here is almost the inverse: not how ideology captures the vulnerable, but how the music industry and media manufacture the rebel image. The workshop will focus on the gap between the historical record and the film, and what that gap reveals.
Students receive a set of primary and secondary source materials. Items such as interviews with contemporaries, press clippings, Sex Pistols promotional imagery, and record company correspondence will be used. Students will then identify where Cox’s film romanticises, distorts, or mythologises the story, and how it achieves this through cinematic language.
Then the bigger question: why does that myth exist, and who does it serve? Each group takes one scene and writes a 60-second “alternative cut” description. What would this scene look like if it were honest rather than mythic?
The outcome is about understanding how punk was commodified even as it claimed to reject commodity culture.
Sid and Nancy: Outcomes
- Ability to interrogate the gap between historical record and dramatised myth
- Understanding of how commercial and media industries construct and commodify counter-cultural identity
- Skills in close textual analysis and source comparison
- Critical thinking about authenticity, rebellion, and cultural co-option across different eras
About the tutor
Matthew Harris is an accomplished filmmaker and educator with 25 years of award-winning experience in video production and media. As the founder of The Blah Blah Company, he combines creative vision with practical expertise to deliver results.
Matthew holds a BA Hons in Video Production and more recently an MPhil in Screen Media and Culture from the University of Cambridge. His extensive teaching background spans multiple positions in Further and Higher Education, where he has provided students with both technical skills and artistic insight.
His recent film, “A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies,” has garnered international recognition, showcasing at festivals worldwide and earning an official selection at the Norwich Film Festival 2024. This practical industry experience informs his teaching approach, offering students relevant, current perspectives on filmmaking craft.
With a passion for innovation and a commitment to nurturing emerging talent, Matthew brings both academic rigor and real-world production knowledge to his role as a practical filmmaking tutor.
Programmed in partnership with the Sir John Hurt Film Trust.
These workshops have been funded by the BFI Film Audience Network and the National Lottery.
CONTENT & SUPPORT NOTE
These sessions engage honestly with difficult material. They include drug use and addiction, grief and loss, radicalisation, bullying and belonging. Some students may find aspects of the films or discussion personally affecting.
Any student affected is encouraged to speak to their school’s pastoral team or designated safeguarding lead in the first instance. Independent, confidential support is also available from:
– Drugs & addiction: FRANK: 0300 123 6600, talktofrank.com (24/7)
– Grief & bereavement: Cruse Bereavement Support: 0808 808 1677, cruse.org.uk
– Radicalisation & extremism: ACT Early: actearly.uk or Educate Against Hate: educateagainsthate.com
– Bullying, wellbeing & anything else on their mind: Childline: 0800 1111, childline.org.uk (24/7)