The Inked Family

Manifesto

June 2022 •English

Over three pivotal years in party politics, activists in the safest Labour seat in the country campaign for change under the banner of Jeremy Corbyn's 'For The Many' manifesto.

Between the Anvil and the Hammer

January 1973 •English

A 1973 documentary film from the Central Office of Information about the Liverpool and Bootle Constabulary.

Stoney Knows How

November 1981 •English

A visit with a master of the Oldest Art In The World: tattooing. Disabled by arthritis since the age of four, confined to a wheelchair, his growth stunted, Stoney St. Clair joined the circus at 15 as a sword swallower. A year later he took up tattooing, and traveled with circuses and carnivals for fifty years practicing his craft. As we watch him at work, we see the determination which led Stoney to use his crippled hands in an art where mistakes are permanent, and we realize Stoney has overcome his handicap to heal himself and others with the magic of symbols. The film ends with a visit by New Age tattoo master Don Ed Hardy, who receives a permanent souvenir by Old School tattoo master Stoney.

Of Time and the City

October 2008 •English

British director Terence Davies reflects on his birthplace of Liverpool - his memories of growing up there and how it has changed in the years since - in the process meditating on the internal struggles and conflicts that have wracked him throughout his life and the history of England during the second half of the 20th century.

Signatures of the Soul

October 1984 •English

Tattooing — "the world's oldest skin game" — is the subject of this iconic documentary. Writer/director Geoff Steven scored a major coup by signing Easy Rider legend Peter Fonda as his presenter. Travelling to Aotearoa, Samoa, Japan and the United States, the doco traces key developments in tattooing, including its importance in the Pacific, prison-inspired styles, and the influence of 1960s counterculture. Legendary tattooists feature (including Americans Ed Hardy and Jack Rudy), while the closing credits parade some eye-opening full body tattoos.

A Touch of the Tar Brush

November 1991 •English

Black filmmaker John Akomfrah believes that, for too long, being English has meant being white. In an attempt to show Englishness from the point of view of mixed-race English people, he visits Liverpool, one of England's oldest multicultural communities.

PHOENIX

February 2020 •German

Behind the Rent Strike

October 1974 •English

Kirby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, England, October 1972. A chronicle of the fourteen-month strike by thousands of tenants to protest against the £1 increase in council house rents due to the Housing Finance Act.

David and Goliath

November 2018 •Latvian

The documentary chronicles the life stories of two brothers, Kristaps and Krists. Kristaps, the elder brother, is disabled and has trouble talking, but he can rap. His younger brother Krists is one of the best freestyle BMX bikers in Latvia.

Tattoos: A Scarred History

June 2009 •English

An exploration of how the once taboo art form has become socially acceptable.

The End of the Storm

November 2020 •English

Featuring exceptional access to Liverpool Football Club, this is the gripping inside story of the club’s 2019/20 Premier League winning season, set against the context of their global fan base waiting for 30 years of disappointment and near misses to come to an end.

The Last Supper

Invalid date •English

A documentary of burgeoning popstar Frimann's last gig in Liverpool before moving back home to Norway

If Trees Could Talk

November 2016 •Latvian

Deniss is a Russian-speaking young man working at a fast food chain and spending his days in a small, gloomy apartment where all the things still remind him of his dead grandmother. Once a week he takes the stage, becoming a stand-up comedian. His jokes come from his life, which might be called dull as well as bleak, and, as he puts it, his ‘uninteresting biography’.

Buzz

February 2025 •English

The anti-Slumdog Millionaire in documentary form, "Buzz" charts the tumultuous rise of India's most famous tattoo artist as he struggles to overcome the demons of his poverty-stricken childhood through art.

Mr Black Stork

December 2020 •Latvian

Māris Strazds (also known as "Mr Black Stork") is a man who's been studying black storks and their behaviour for forty years. His love for and relationship with these beautiful birds is longer than the relationship with his wife. Having spent more than half of his life following black storks, Māris is aware that due to deforestation the number of these birds in Latvia is rapidly approaching zero.

Grandfather's Father

October 2016 •Latvian

In this film a young man and his curmudgeonly grandfather are going 1,800 km to northern Russia in an old Zhiguli car, hoping to find the grave of their great-grandfather, who was deported. The grandfather Andris is sceptic over the lofty quest, initiated by his grand-son, as it’s not known what awaits them at their destination. Andris thinks they won’t find anything and will come back to Latvia without ever learning what happened to his father. However ever-optimistic Kārlis wants to use the journey not only to find answers about the past but also become closer to his grandfather who raised him. They both lost their parents as children.

Mario Barth: Under The Skin

December 2008 •English

Skin Pics

October 1980 •English

A bold reveal of a rose tattoo opens this 1980 documentary on tattooing in New Zealand. The potted history includes visits to tattoo parlours on K' Road and Hastings, and the studios of industry legends Steve Johnson and Roger Ingerton. Tattooists discuss public stigma, people's reasons for getting inked, and popular designs: sailors, serpents, swallows and tā moko. Made for documentary slot Contact, Skin Pics chronicles a time when "folk art has become high art".

The Flickering Flame

December 1996 •English

Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.

The Boys Who Killed Jamie Bulger

June 2001 •English

This powerful and disturbing documentary covers the outcry approaching the release of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the two 10 year old boys who killed 2 year-old James Bulger in 1993. Re-telling the tragedy, the film presents the protests against their release from an institution, delves into the backgrounds of the killers, their terrible violent act and the impact it caused in UK. It also explores claims that their punishment has been a sham, as reporter Deborah Davies investigates how inmates at secure units are treated and interviews experts to learn whether eight years has been sufficient time to successfully rehabilitate the pair.