Bernard MacMahon’s long-gestating documentary, announced in 2019 and screened as a work-in-progress at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, covers the formation and early years of one of rock’s seminal bands. Featuring new interviews with the group’s surviving members – vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones – and bringing to light previously unheard archival interviews with deceased drummer John Bonham, the film’s first half is filled with titbits of trivia (that both Page and Jones perform on Shirley Bassey’s Bond theme Goldfinger, for example) about their early experiences as session musicians and in formative bands, including The Yardbirds. As the focus moves to the early days of Led Zeppelin, copious archive performance footage illustrates the band’s early American success, even as they were largely ignored or scorned at home, before returning to the UK in triumph.

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 20.40 on Tuesday 11th, and 13.40 on Thursday 13th.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.