Rebel Dykes

An engaging watch, Rebel Dykes captures the reflections and accounts of lesbians who refused to embrace traditional stereotypes in order to express their own identities and instead kickstarted their own scene and fought for queer rights. With the instigators discussing their experiences of coming out and finding their tribe, plus the use of photographs, wonderful animation and eye-popping footage from haunts like The Bell and the infamous Chain Reaction club, a vital piece of queer history has been captured. It is no wonder that this film has had the reception it truly deserves, and will continue to astound and inspire.

I was watching Rebel Dykes, a documentary part animated film on Amazon BFI the other day. I really enjoyed it and I improved my knowledge of lesbian 80's culture by about 99%. Directed by Harri with Siân A. Williams, i I loved the way it was put together with all the home footage, warts and all. It gave it a veracity and immediacy that helped fix the period and the way in which lesbians expressed themselves at that particular moment in time. The Rebel Dykes made me think of Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in The Wild One. I think the word lesbian sounds a little formal, even twee perhaps - like finding a Marks and Spencer label on the back of an unfashionable item of clothing, somehow safe and middle of the road. Dykes i suppose has connotations of abuse, mainly from men, but Rebel Dykes comes across as wild and fierce - an Amazonian image if you like? If we must have labels then that's just my opinion of their aesthetics, so i hope no one takes them to heart, my not being a woman or a dyke.

It was interesting to see the differing perspectives from various factions on how they wanted to be perceived back then, and how the influences of both feminism and punk came in to play. I remember the Thatcher clamp down on gay culture and doing an anti Clause 28 cartoon for City Life magazine myself at that time.

It helped me understand a history that i didn't really know about, which is always a good thing and how people have struggled for the rights they have won and still have to fight for - it was inspirational, entertaining and had a banging soundtrack to boot. Watch it and educate yourself.

We had a very crowded showing of this movie at my local queer bar last night. Been a while since i've experienced a crowd laughing, hooting and hollering like this, the movie was such a blast from start to finish. Now that's what a good documentary can be - entertaining, real, energizing and profoundly moving. Hats off to the movie makers who managed to find all this footage (movie clips, audio clips, photographies, zines, artworks...) of a bygone era that, to our pretty sanitized and commercialized queer landscape of the 2020s, feels alien and tantalizing. Humbling to acknowledge the continuity of fights, both inwards and outwards. The interviewed people were such wonderful personalities, each given room to shine their own special spotlight on this troubled era. I already want to rewatch this!

Rough and ready with a massive heart, the film is not only a fascinating piece of social history but also really great fun to watch. You'll wish you were there in the 1980s with the gals and bois of the Bell, Chain Reaction and the other pre-queer club nights and venues of a lost London. The film is also testament to the power of crowd funding and the resilience and resourcefulness of filmmakers who work independently on tiny budgets across many months and years to turn their grand passion into something which can be shared with audiences around the world. Rebel Dykes has shown at film festivals, won prizes, been in cinemas and now on television. Bravo ladies!

I loved this film. Made me wish I was born 10 years earlier or at least made it to London instead of Manchester in 1990. There is a great use of some gritty footage and some fun funky animation. It's such an important story to tell and it is told very well, in the style of the Rebel Dykes themselves.

Punk roots, fierce feminism, S&M versus political anti-pornography feminists, Greenham Common, raw music, squats, lesbian activism and Clause 28. So many memories of coming out and the sexual politics of the time. It's very heartening for the film to address racism and transphobia and to feature black and trans dykes within the scene.

Thanks for making the film and to Rebel Dykes for paving the way.