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Lighting Off

Peter Strickland In Conversation

The acclaimed British filmmaker discusses his seductive, darkly humorous fashion thriller In Fabric (2018).

During the cold winter of 2020’s lockdown we virtually held a long weekend for fashion victims and film fetishists with a triple bill screening of Peter Strickland‘s wickedly hypnotic fashion satire In Fabric (2018), live conversation with Strickland (above) plus a public masterclass deep diving into fashion victims, desire, bodies and consumption, available to watch here.

The film follows a lonely woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), recently separated from her husband, who visits a bewitching London department store in search of a dress that will transform her life. She’s fitted with a perfectly flattering, artery-red gown—which, in time, will come to unleash a malevolent curse and unstoppable evil, threatening everyone who comes into its path.

Peter Strickland, the singular auteur behind the sumptuous sadomasochistic romance The Duke of Burgundy (2014) and auditory giallo-homage Berberian Sound Studio (2012) delves into his twisted and brilliantly original vision, In Fabric with film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

In Fabric is available to watch here via Kanopy (for selected library memberships – check with your local library.)

Presented by The Capitol and Arcadia Film.

“Part British-horror homage and part Freudian nightmare, this fetishistic ghost story is a singularly warped vision of haunted couture.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone

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