[title]
He’s the last of the rock star film directors, an idiosyncratic genius who brought an avant garde edge to the Hollywood mainstream. His TV show ‘Twin Peaks’ revolutionised the small screen forever, while movies like ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Wild at Heart’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’ seduced audiences with a blend of dark humour, extreme violence, heartfelt melodrama and dangerous eroticism.
Now, a unique event in London is set to celebrate the work of David Lynch with a weekend of celebrity guests, live performance, music, art, cosplay and film screenings. Running from September 14-15 at the London Irish Centre, ‘A Gathering of the Angels’ will invite attendees to enter a world both beautiful and strange.
Among the special guests attending the festival will be several actors from Lynch’s movies including Dexter Fletcher and Lesley Dunlop, who each made youthful appearances in Lynch’s London-set masterpiece ‘The Elephant Man’. Fletcher has of course gone on to become a highly successful actor-director in his own right with films like ‘Sunshine on Leith’ and ‘Rocketman’ on his CV, while Dunlop would go on to star in ‘Emmerdale’. The pair will answer audience questions following a special screening of the film.
Also attending will be Dana Ashbrook, who played teen heartthrob and all-round bad boy Bobby Briggs in ‘Twin Peaks’ and its big-screen spinoff ‘Fire Walk With Me’, before returning as a reformed character in 2017’s ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’. Attendees will also meet that show’s executive producer (and Lynch’s right-hand woman) Sabrina Sutherland, who knows more about Lynch’s world than anyone else on the planet.
Meet the person who knows more about Lynch’s world than anyone else on the planet
The weekend will also include a pair of online panels that’ll be fascinating not just to Lynch fans, but to anyone interested in the art of filmmaking. Saturday’s discussion will include appearances from Robert Engels, the co-author of ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’, alongside that film’s cinematographer Ron Garcia and others. It’ll be followed by a rare chance to see this under-appreciated masterpiece on the big screen.
A second panel on Sunday will involve cinematographer Peter Deming, who shot ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’, as well as movies like ‘Evil Dead 2’, ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ and, um, ‘Drop Dead Fred’; editor Duwayne Dunham, who cut ‘Blue Velvet’ and all three series of ‘Twin Peaks’ (he also edited ‘Return of the Jedi’!); casting director Johanna Ray, who has worked with Lynch on every project he has directed since ‘Blue Velvet’, alongside work on movies like ‘Starship Troopers’, ‘Kill Bill’ and (yay!) ‘Showgirls’; plus other Lynch collaborators.
Across the weekend, attendees will also enjoy live performances from London’s beloved Lynchian cabaret troupe The Double R Club and an escape-room-style ‘Fire Walk With Me’ puzzle experience, plus live music, jitterbug classes, a costume competition and much more.
Head to the official site for more information and to book tickets.
The 10 best new films to catch in August.
Find out which David Lynch film makes our list of the 100 Greatest Movies.