About this Event
The Swansea Modernist and the Swansea Pyschogeography Society Presents:
Paradise Lost: History in the Unmaking by Andy Howlett
Trailor and more info: https://paradiselostfilm.uk/index.html
Film Synoposis:
Paradise Lost, History in the Unmaking is a feature-length essay film about Birmingham Central Library and the death of Modernism. When filmmaker Andy Howlett set out with his camera to document the final days of the condemned Brutalist complex, little did he know the rabbit hole he was stumbling into…
Decried by the Council as an eyesore, but hailed by Historic England as an exemplar of postwar design, the story of John Madin's concrete colossus and the fight to save it is a curious one. In this psychogeographic detective story, Andy Howlett weaves together archive footage with on-the-ground explorations in an attempt to figure out what went wrong with yesterday's future.
Join the Swansea Modernist and the Swansea Pyschogeography Society after the 1 hour 24 minutes film for a relaxed and informal discussion about modernism, memory, and demolition in Wales second city.
Reviews for Paradise Lost:
"A charming, faintly eccentric but fundamentally serious investigation into a mysterious crime in the second city: in which somebody killed the future, and then attempted, almost successfully, to hide the evidence" – Owen Hatherley
"Compelling and prophetic. A sad and telling inditement, yet I found it wonderfully sardonic and life-affirming" –Andrew Kötting
Location: The Pop-Up - The Old Rainbao, Princess Way, Swansea SA1 5HB, next to Zinco's lounge
- What3words: form.rock.logic // https://w3w.co/form.rock.logic
Time: 7.00pm - 9.00pm, doors open at 6.30, film runs from 7 - 8.30,
discussion from 8.30 - 9
Date: October 29th, 2025
The screening takes place in a pop-up space, so the atmosphere is temporary and unconventional. This isn't your standard theatre experience!
6 pounds for standard tickets, free for solidarity rates. All proceeds made from the screening go directly to filmmaker Andy Howlett, an independent filmmaker based in Birmingham via Urban Foundry on behalf of the Swansea Pyschogeography Society.
This is being screened for education purposes and has a 12A BBFC rating.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
30 Princess Way, 30 Princess Way, Swansea, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 6.00
