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ONE MAN IN THE BAND

About Me

My name is Adam Clitheroe and I'm a documentary filmmaker with a background in avant-garde film and a smattering of children's TV. The former earned me a reputation for gratuitous nudity, the latter BAFTA and RTS nominations here in the UK. I was making a fascinating feature-length doumentary about the act of looking out of windows when I encountered the fantastic MAN FROM URANUS in a pub and was introduced to the intensely exotic and disturbingly peculiar milieu of the modern one-person band. The windows documentary was temporarily put on hold - fenestrists, don't worry, it's coming soon - and I was sucked into the world of ONE MAN IN THE BAND, meeting many unique musicians along the way, of whom DENNIS HOPPER CHOPPERS, DURACELL, HONKEYFINGER, MAN FROM URANUS, NINKI V, THOMAS TRUAX and THE TWO TEARS made it into this documentary. The obvious choice was to make the film as a one-man band myself, and so I plunged in with my equipment strapped to my limbs and my camera rolling. What intrigued me about the one-man bands I met was that they were all doing music that was really quite adventurous and 'out there', but they had progressed beyond the need for acceptance by the music industry or, indeed, anybody else. They were doing what they wanted in an unadulterated and quite public manner. As a filmmaker who has always hidden behind glass eyes, this nakedness and lack of pretension in front of an audience was refreshing and quite alarming. I think it was no coincidence that for many of the one man bands I met, their personal lives were in turmoil. Over the course of filming them observationally for this documentary, I began to grasp - as my own life descended into chaos - exactly what it takes to persist as ONE MAN IN THE BAND. It's the yearning for the sweetness of one's own vision, raw and undefiled, and a dogged stoicism in trudging the wastelands of solitude to get to that place. So do try and see my film ONE MAN IN THE BAND - screening at film festivals and coming out on DVD in 2009 - and ask yourself - was music ever meant to be this lonely?

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Formally inventive documentary filmmakers such as Agnes Varda, Ulrich Seidl and Errol Morris. Errol Morris' film VERNON, FLORIDA (1982) was a direct influence on this film, ONE MAN IN THE BAND.

My Blog

One Man in the Band in Montpellier this Sunday... plus Croatia, Spain and Singapore

More screenings of One Man in the Band coming soon... Cinesubsonica Festival Cine Rock, Montpellier, France Sunday 1 March, 20h00, Le Mojomatic, 1, Rue Cambacéres ***With live music from Honkeyf...
Posted by on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:38:00 GMT

Free screening of One Man in the Band in Hull, UK, plus London screening reminder

Hull Film is hosting a free screening at Sabrini's Bar and Café, 63 Princes Avenue, Hull HU5 3QX. 10 February 2009, 7pm. Meanwhile, don't forget the screening at London's Roxy Bar and Scree...
Posted by on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:39:00 GMT

More screenings of One Man in the Band: London, Portland, Montpellier...

New screenings of One Man in the Band:17 January 2009 Special feature film presentation at the Roxy Bar and Screen in association with the 6th London Short Film Festival and Beat Happening magazine....
Posted by on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:12:00 GMT

One Man in the Band - free screening - Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Indie 2008 Film Festival is putting on a **FREE** screening of One Man in the Band on 14 October, 21h10, cinema Usina 2, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.More details here.And if you have seen the film, give it...
Posted by on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:58:00 GMT

Leeds screening with Thomas Truax LIVE!

One Man in the Band will be playing at the Leeds Film Festival followed by a full live set by one of the stars of the film, the venerable Thomas Truax.Date: Wednesday 5 NovemberVenue: The Hi Fi Club, ...
Posted by on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:58:00 GMT

OMITB on Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database has finally conceded that One Man in the Band is a Proper Film, and so it now has its own IMDB page here.Please, if you are one of the small, elite group of people who have...
Posted by on Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:40:00 GMT

New BBC interview now online

In advance of the UK premiere of One Man in the Band at the Cambridge Film Festival on Friday 26 September, there is an interview with director Adam Clitheroe on the BBC Cambridge website. Link here. ...
Posted by on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:43:00 GMT

One Man in the Band screening this week in Cambridge and Mexico City

If you are in Cambridge or Mexico City this week please come to the next screenings of One Man in the Band:Cambridge Film Festival, UK***OFFICIAL UK PREMIERE!******With live performance by Man From Ur...
Posted by on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:42:00 GMT

Milano screening, Best Documentary prize and UK premiere!

Lots of news about the film One Man in the Band. It's screening at the Milano Film Festival on Monday 15 September, with live music by the fabulous Two Tears. On Friday 26 September it receives its of...
Posted by on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:37:00 GMT

Radio interview plus music from One Man in the Band

I'll be interviewed by Cara Govan on the 'Static Caravan' radio show this evening, Wednesday 9 July, on Ipswich Community Radio (105.7fm or www.icrfm.co.uk). She'll be playing the album versions of so...
Posted by on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:31:00 GMT