Commenced during the lockdown and shot in the neighbourhoods the filmmaker grew up in, The Perpetrators collages moody analogue film, original animation and archival materials in a dreamy autofiction of queer darkness that ponders the correlations between 1980s Stranger Danger, the construction of homosexual identity and the institution of the family.
“I am a diagnosis… a medico-legal construct… of capitalist design.”
At a time when political leaders are once again escalating narratives of queer people being a threat to children, Squires’ timely reflection on his own 1980s childhood exposes the history of pathological representations of menacing queers.
The Perpetrators received its premiere at Portugal’s Queer Lisboa Festival. It is directed by London-based visual artist and academic Richard Squires, following his feature-length documentary on queer identity Doozy (2018) and hybrid documentary Programme (2007), which premiered at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. Animation is provided by Elroy Simmons (Doozy, 2018; Mansfield 66/67, 2017; Horrid Henry, 2015).
Run time: 14 mins
LMFYFF Productions presents The Perpetrators at BFI Flare on 19 & 25 March 2023.
For tickets search The Perpetrators at: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online/
