The British Guide To Showing Off

Andrew Logan is a fine example of the great British eccentric, a gloriously idiosyncratic artist and producer whose work keys into pagan lore, extravagant handicrafts and amorphous sexuality. No wonder Grayson Perry’s a fan. This documentary offers a charming and intriguing overview of Logan’s life and career – a peculiarly harmonious mix of orthodox posh and underground radical that doubles as a social history of post-war England. The spine is the preparation for the latest incarnation of Logan’s great creation, Alternative Miss World. A delirious pageant of beauty, creativity and freaky rebellion, it began in 1972 and swiftly found a place at the heart of alternative London culture, drawing the likes of Bowie, Hockney, Zandra Rhodes and Derek Jarman – and, more recently, performers like Amy Lamé and Fancy Chance. Director Jes Benstock and producer Dorigen Hammond deploy witty animated narration and make the most of a phenomenal archive and the come-what-may charisma of Logan himself – a true one-off whose easy blurring of boundaries and championing of love and expression are worth showing off.