No Man Is an Island

2025

24min

A short verbatim documentary that tells the story of how the Isle of Man came to decriminalise homosexual acts in 1992. The film follows the parliamentary debates around changing the law, the febrile atmosphere on the island as activists protested at Tynwald Day, the 1991 general election campaign where gay sex seemed to be on the ballot, and the police raids of public toilets where gay men would meet. The film specially explores ideas around social shame and the media as an extra-judicial mechanism for social control in small communities.