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Although his musical and literary work is neither very large nor very well known apart from his bestselling novel “Sky over the Desert”, the American composer and author Paul Bowles (1910-1999) was a man of great charisma and influence.
When he moved to Tangier (Morocco) in 1949, the city was a magnet for artists, writers and the wealthy, where they could do practically whatever they wanted without fear of prosecution. Paul’s friends and colleagues soon came to visit: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, William Burroughs and many others. The “Lost Generation”, the beatniks, the hippies, all sought him out, attracted by the mysterious and magical worlds of his books.
But that was only one side of the story. Although Paul never hid his homosexuality, he was married to the lesbian writer Jane Bowles. What attracted the two, despite their completely different personalities, was a shared world view: that you have to reach a point of no return in order to find salvation.
Through a series of exclusive interviews with Bowles shortly before his death and anecdotes from his friends and collaborators, the film tells of a daring and visionary life and a relationship characterised by mutual dependence that went far beyond sexuality.
Appearing personalities
Paul Bowles, Roland Beaufre, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ira Cohen, Karim Debbagh, Tamara Dragadze, Ruth Fainlight, Oliver Harris, John Hopkins, Richard Horowitz, Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno, Mohammed Mrabet, Cherie Nutting, Bachir Skiredj, Mohammed Temsamani, Florian Vetsch, Gore Vidal, John Waters, Edmund White.
Team
Writer & Director – Daniel Young
Producer – Valentin Greutert
Executive Producers – This Brunner, Stanley Buchthal, Andres Bruetsch, Simon Hesse
Camera – Imre Juhas, Andres Bruetsch, Robert Adrian-Pejo, Felix von Muralt, Marco Möschler, Yoav Parish
Music & Sound Design – Csaba Kalotas
Animations – Robin Bushell, William Crook
Editing – Kaya Inan
World Sales
Submarine Entertainment
Awards and honours
Audience Award at Torino LGBT 2013
Festivals
Berlinale Panorama 2013, Mostra Sao Paolo 2012, Zurich Film Festival 2012 u.v.m.
