'I Get Knocked Down', the untold story of Leeds-based anarcho-pop band Chumbawamba by former and founding member Dunstan Bruce is finally getting a cinema run this Feb and March.
A band with a rich radical output and strong sense of ethics and political justice, Chumbawamba started out as an anarchist collective in Leeds in 1982.
A band that endeavoured to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, they were a consistently socially conscious and observant political band that sought to use their music to express their solidarity with those who were impacted by capitalist and colonialist powers.
Of course we all know of the song ‘Tubthumping‘ and its incredible commercial success and this was a turn of events that the band needed to navigate whilst maintaining their commitment to the values they had espoused.
‘I Get Knocked Down‘ (directed by Sophie Robinson) catches up with band member Dunstan Bruce (who also co-directed) at age 59 and struggling with the fact the world seems to show no signs of improving. In fact, if anything, things seem to be getting worse.
Twenty years after his fall from grace, Bruce is angry and frustrated, but how does a retired middle-aged radical get back up again? In this punk version of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol‘, Dunstan is visited by the antagonistic ghost of his anarchist past – his alter ego, ‘Babyhead’ – who forces him to question his own life, sending him on a search for his long-lost anarchist mojo.
Following Bruce’s personal voyage of rediscovery, redemption, and reawakening, ‘I Get Knocked Down‘ acts as a call to arms to those who think activism is best undertaken by someone else.
The film is now finally getting a cinema run and will be shown at a variety of screening locations across February and March. Some selected screenings are accompanied by a live Q&A with Dunstan Bruce.
More dates are being added all the time so keep an eye out HERE for updated screening locations and information.
For tickets for screenings, visit the venue’s website.
-SAT 04 FEB: FILM FACTORY, LEIGH.
-SUN 05 FEB: TOWER ARTS CENTRE, HELENSBURGH.
-TUE 07 FEB: HACKNEY PICTUREHOUSE, LONDON (**WITH Q&A)
-WED 15 FEB: SHOWROOM, SHEFFIELD (**WITH Q&A).
-THU 16 FEB: BRITISH MUSIC EXPERIENCE, LIVERPOOL (**WITH Q&A).
-FRI 17 FEB: BREWERY ARTS CENTRE, KENDAL (**WITH Q&A).
-SAT 18 FEB: PICTUREHOUSE, HEBDEN BRIDGE
-SAT 18 FEB: GFT, GLASGOW (**WITH Q&A).
-SUN 19 FEB: CAMEO, EDINBURGH (**WITH Q&A)
-MON 20 FEB: TYNESIDE CINEMA, NEWCASTLE (**WITH Q&A)
-TUE 21 FEB: PICTUREHOUSE, HEBDEN BRIDGE
-WED 22 FEB: ARC, STOCKTON (**WITH Q&A)
-FRI 24 FEB: DUKE OF YORKS, BRIGHTON (**WITH Q&A)
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, ADDLESTONE
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, BANBURY
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, BOLTON
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, BRADFORD
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, CAMBRIDGE
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, NEW BRIGHTON
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, SHEFFIELD
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, SITTINGBOURNE
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, STOCKPORT
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, THETFORD
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, WALSALL
-MON 27 FEB: LIGHT CINEMA, WISBECH.
-MON 6 MAR: QUAD, DERBY (**WITH Q&A)
-TUE 07 MAR: HORSE AND BAMBOO, ROSSENDALE
-SAT 11 MAR: BISCUIT FACTORY, READING (**WITH Q&A)
-WED 15 MAR: GENESIS CINEMA, LONDON (**WITH Q&A)
-MON 27 MAR: CITY VARIETIES, LEEDS
-TUE 28 MAR: ELECTRIC CINEMA, BIRMINGHAM (**WITH Q&A)
-TUE 28 MAR: POCKLINGTON ARTS CENTRE, POCKLINGTON
For more information on the film click below....
Need more Punk In Your Life?
Album review: Propagandhi – ‘At Peace’
Here begins a somewhat casual Propagandhi fan’s (rare, eh?) perspective on ‘At Peace’. Please don’t put me in the stocks if I get this one
Shake Some Acton Gig #90, The Prince Albert, 26th April 2025
What a brilliant Saturday night that was! Mannie Zerafa sure knows how to put on a fun punk gig! He organises so many of these
EP review: RAD – ‘Toxic Slime’
We caught Brighton skate-core crew RAD about a year ago, opening a local show for KNOFX (a NOFX tribute band), and were blown away by
Album review: Los Pepes – ‘Out Of The Void’
Ahhh, sweet simplicity. The multi-national Los Pepes generally rely on two main ingredients: irresistible melodies and raw, fuzzed-up punk rock guitars. Sometimes they go harder
Album review: Bridge The Gap release ‘Gainsayer’
From Salt Lake City, Utah, Bridge The Gap arrived on the punk scene back in 2023, so you’d think they’re quite a newish band. In
Steve Ignorant, U.K. Subs, Spanish, German and Belgian punk bands rock festival in Leuven
Saturday, 19 April saw the postponed 2024 Breaking Barriers festival in Leuven, Belgium. Two English punk icons ever since the 1970s, Steve Ignorant and UK
I’m Molly Tie- I Love punk! I play drums (badly), write a lot about punk (not as badly) and I’m particularly interested in issues relating to women in the music scene.
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
