Just bought a copy of the new issue of Mojo (or, at least my wife did).
Amongst the various pages is a half-page article on the Whitehead ‘Joy Division’ film. It talks a little about the film, but also gives a fairly detailed description of it.
One thing of particular note in the article is the following:
“Though Whitehead stated that he had sold the film to the Cherry Red label, Hooky argues the ownership is disputed (the label told Mojo, “Cherry Red acquired the rights to the footage but need an agreement from the band for a commercial release”). He hopes, though, that fans won’t have to wait much longer to see it.”
So, although, there does appear to be a complication with ownership, there are possible moves afoot to try and get a release, both by Hooky and Cherry Red (possibly coming at it from opposing sides).
Also, it’s a good sign that at least one member of the band would like to see it released (Hooky goes on to say “I’d love it to come out”). There have always been rumours that the band weren’t keen due to the use of Nuremberg rally footage in the film. I guess that was mainly back in the day though, when people were accusing them of Nazi sympathising (apparently it was going to be on the HATYM tape but that was nixed because of that reason). I’m sure nobody now thinks that they’re Nazis, so I’m sure it could be released without those sort of concerns.
Good news, anyway. I would absolutely love a copy of the whole film, i.e. in the context in which it was meant to be shown rather than just the Bowden Vale footage on its own.
