Northern England, 1988. Jean is an exemplary gymnastics teacher, motivated and respected by her pupils. A new law, stigmatising the gay community, voted in by the Thatcher government, and which could cause Jean to lose her job, forces her to lead a double life. At school, she feels watched by her colleagues but in the evenings she goes to LGBT clubs with Viv, her partner. One night, she meets one of her students in one such bar
BLUE JEAN was selected for the 2022 Venice Film Festival's Giornate degli Autori programme, where the film was awarded the Audience Award. Georgia Oakley looks back at the scandalous "Section 28" that sought to ban the "promotion" of homosexuality in British schools. This law, only repealed in 2004, fuelled a culture of shame and homophobia in schools. In her intimate portrait of Jean, a lesbian teacher struggling with her identity (the wonderful Rosy McEwen), Georgia Oakley creates a compelling story about the importance of passing on knowledge, experiences and history from generation to generation. Already a cult film!
