Polari uncovers the chequered history and sad necessities behind a fun language that was used by Britain’s gay community up until the late 1960s. Charting the rise and fall of its use, it also reveals Polari’s endurance into modern times, and its continued ability to offend.
With contributions from Dr. Paul Baker (the English language professor whose PhD on Polari saved the cryptolect from extinction), David Raven (aka Maisie Trollette), Britain’s oldest working drag artist, Peter Scott-Presland, a writer and performer who learnt Polari through his friends and used it in his work, and Karl Eccleston (a filmmaker who with Brian Fairbairn co-wrote and co-directed Putting on the Dish, a short film delivered entirely in Polari).
Companies
The London Film School
- Film