I AM WEEKENDER Premieres at Glasgow Film Festival

March 23, 2023

“OnSight pulled out all the stops to help get us over the finish line. Their technical expertise plus a calm, friendly attitude, allowed room for creativity, even with our tight deadline – I can’t thank them enough!” – Director Chloé Raunet

This weekend I AM WEEKENDER premiered at Glasgow Film Festival, marking 30 years since the provocative release of its subject and inspiration: Weekender. Flowered Up’s groundbreaking music video, restored archive footage, and exclusive interviews are given new life and insightful exploration in Director Chloé Raunet’s debut film. 

Post Production

OnSight provided full post for I AM WEEKENDER, with colour by Emily Russul Saib, sound mix by Andy Coles, online edit by Andrew Fisun, and was overseen by Post Producer Cem Kilinchan. The project was a mixture of Zoom interviews, footage from the original Weekender video, some BTS, and stills. Chloe wanted to push the Zoom calls and give them a really distinct look, the original clips from the Weekender video were left as source, and all the other pieces in between were unified, with everything made to match that grimy ‘late 80’s, early 90’s vibe. 

Weekender

Flowered Up were formed in London as part of the blossoming Acid Rave and early 90s dance music scene. They were fronted by Liam Maher, who died in 2009 from an overdose, tragically followed by his brother and fellow bandmate Joe in 2012.

The 18 minute accompanying video to the track Weekender (directed by W.I.Z. and starring Lee Whitlock and Anna Haigh) was released in 1992 by Heavenly Records, to immediate and extreme media criticism. It is credited in inspiring a host of media serving to encapsulate rebellious youth; Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting, even claimed that his film would not exist without Weekender. 

Weekender has been cemented in film and music memory, named by the British Film Institute as one of the most innovative music films ever made. 

I AM WEEKENDER

Produced by Martin Kelly and Andrew Whiston (W.I.Z) for Heavenly Films, the origins of I AM WEEKENDER were brought about in 2020 by filmmakers Tabitha Denholm and Adam Dunlop, whose interviews with people relevant to Weekender, Flowered Up, and the scene more widely were undertaken as part of the 30 year anniversary of its release. With W.I.Z’s appointment of Chloé Raunet as Director, the feature length documentary began to take form; the collation and restoration of W.I.Z’s unseen archive footage interspersed between the interviews, and of course Weekender itself. 

“It was really important for me that I approached it as a DIY cut and paste thing, to embrace the imperfections. Today so many things are so polished, I wanted to tap into the DIY elements of the early days of acid house.” – Chloé Raunet

The documentary is dedicated to Lee Whitlock, the lead actor of Weekender, who sadly passed away this February.