All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

2022, Laura Poitras, USA

Content Note: Domestic violence

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a richly drawn portrait of the life and legacy of artist/activist Nan Goldin and a loving historical document for outsiders, queer and trans people of the downtown New York and Baltimore scene in the late 20th Century.

Part-art-historical deep-dive into Goldin’s photographic career (particularly her seminal work, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency); part-journalistic coverage of her activism against the Sackler family and as part of ACT UP; and part-history of an unusual artistic milieu, this is a complex and fascinating documentary that is more than just a portrait of an American life.

Goldin’s career had a seismic influence on photographic art, bringing the intimacy and intensity of her everyday life with her close-knit band of oddballs into the sphere of high-art. Many will recognise names of those whose stories have interwoven with Goldin’s and who comprise a collection of icons of their downtown scene – Cookie Mueller, John Waters (watch out for both of them with Polyester, playing later in the year), Bette Gordon, and David Wojnarowicz to name a few. Hers is a life lived intensely and without compromise for integrity, which is clear from the rawness and honesty of her images as well as the fervour with which she attacks her activist causes. From Goldin, there is much to learn. “Both complex and rawly immediate, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed … is a great documentary and maybe the most essential film of the year.” Liam Lacey, Original-Cin