Directors: Paul Humfress, Derek Jarman

Cast: Barney James, Neil Kennedy

UK 1976 | Colour | 82 mins | Drama

Avaliable on: DCP

Sebastiane is Jarman and Humfress’s controversial, sexualised retelling of the 4th century Praetorian Guard whose human goodness leads to humiliation and martyrdom. Abstinence and indulgence, Christianity and Paganism: the oppositions stand in tension here. The heat of the Sardinian desert is powerfully captured on film with both cast and crew put through their paces, sweating it out Herzog-style. And Brian Eno’s distinctly moving score beautifully complements the directors’ superb framing, pacing and stunning slow-motion photography. The result is a glorious hymn to the living, breathing, very real, male body, and a bold, personal reclamation of gay history. (William Fowler)

Presented in a new 2K digital version, remastered from the camera negative. Available from February 2014.