1968 And All That

A sunny Saturday 10th May over at Conway Hall (Red Lion Square) for “1968 And All That” a conference and book fair “to celebrate the hopes and dreams of May 1968 – forty years after” where Ian was doing a talk on his student days in Swansea. He was joined by Martin Wright, the video is below, and it was filled with humour and scathing class hatred to a packed room.

When I first read the book one of the main points that stuck out for me was the period around 1968 – firstly the comedy of student life as an anarchist in Swansea (Burning mushroom below!) – but secondly and most importantly the impact the Vietnam war and it’s opposition had on radicalising Ian and countless others of the sixties generation. I found the most poignant point to be the anti-war demo of October 1968 where the traditional left decided to hold a talk in Hyde Park while others scuffled with the police in Grosvenor Square trying to get to the American Embassy – a clear split in tactics to stop the continuation of an unjust war which as the book states seems to have echoed into the passivity of the current “Stop The War Coalition” and the opposition to the Iraq War. What attracted me to interpreting the book into a film is the prospect that I can convey – through an entertaining comedy – a sense of 30 odd years of radical british history through the eyes of Ian Bone to a contemporary audience.

The event at Conway Hall was a highly entertaining day, pints of bitter flowed in the blazing sunshine, and I got to meet some old characters from the book. It was like a “who’s who” with Ian, Martin, Phil the Printer, Young Chris, Ray Jones, Dave Douglas and Ian Slaughter. I was pleased to get the chance to meet Dave Douglas and talk about the Miners Strikes of 1984. Also meeting Ian Slaughter, a character who I had been hoping to come in contact with, and we had a great chat about the culture of zines in the late 70’s / early 80’s. I hope to catch up with them both properly in the near future. As usual the drunken day had many highlights – the heckling of Lindsey German and the Stop The War Coalition being one – but once again the performance of a NEW Page Three song “You’re All A Bunch Of Cunts” was the cherry on top for me. Ray Jones you are a fucking legend!