This April, BFI Southbank presents TRASH! THE WILDEST FILMS YOU’VE EVER SEEN (30 March–30 April). It is a season celebrating filmmakers and movies that revel in trash cinema’s low-budget, underground weirdness. These films proudly embrace “bad taste” on the big screen in all its trashy glory. The programme treats “trash” as a badge of honour rather than an insult. Highlights include an intimate evening with cult film icon Mink Stole (Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, Hairspray). There will also be a presentation by San Francisco drag impresario and filmmaker *Peaches Christ. The event will feature the world premiere of a new 35mm print of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. This is Ed Wood’s cult sci-fi horror. This film is long hailed as “the worst film of all time.” It was created specifically for the season from original elements preserved in the BFI National Archive.
Curated by champions of trash cinema
BFI National Archive curator William Fowler and BFI Head of Cinema Programme Justin Johnson curated the season. It brings together some of American trash cinema’s most (in)famous names. It spans from the 1930s to the 1990s. The line‑up includes films by John Waters (Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos), George and Mike Kuchar (Sins of the Fleshapoids, Hold Me While I’m Naked), Jack Smith (Normal Love), Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast), Russ Meyer (Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), Paul Morrissey (Trash), Curt McDowell (Thundercrack!), Beth B (Salvation!) and Bruce LaBruce (Super 8 ½), among others.
Trash as a proud aesthetic: bad taste, DIY and transgression
Trash cinema’s American tradition delights in its shoestring budgets and so‑called “bad taste” aesthetic. It produces lurid, camp, transgressive, and wildly DIY films. These films are made by friends and lovers who overturn received ideas about gender, sex, and identity. These films are often received as barbed, playful, and nihilistic retorts to social and political rigidity. They gleefully serve up the opposite of respectable mainstream cinema. The narratives are taboo‑busting. The films feature outsider characters and flamboyant misfits both behind and in front of the camera. Trash cinema is rooted in fairground sideshows and midnight movie culture. It breaks the fourth wall and revels in the audience’s complicity, moreover, challenges censorship while blurring the line between art and exploitation. It mixes parody and homage, as well as excess and play.
Building on BFI Southbank’s cult cinema legacy
Building on the legacy of BFI Southbank’s acclaimed John Waters, Scala and Moviedrome seasons, TRASH! THE WILDEST FILMS YOU’VE EVER SEEN brings this subversive tradition back to the cinema screen, where its impact is most electrifying. Some titles have seeped into mainstream language. They have influenced popular culture. This curated programme invites audiences to reclaim trash’s disruptive pleasures in the shared space of the auditorium. It offers a mix of archive and new prints. The programme includes digital restorations. A selection of titles is also available UK‑wide on BFI Player.
Season launch: “Some Films Are Trash, Some Have Trash-Ness Thrust Upon Them”
The season opens on 1 April. It starts with SOME FILMS ARE TRASH, SOME HAVE TRASH‑NESS THRUST UPON THEM. This is an introductory event. It unpacks what trash films share and why the label should be embraced. Season curators Will Fowler and Justin Johnson will be joined by Helen de Witt, Elena Gorfinkel and Dominic Johnson. They will explore where trash begins. They will also explore where it ends.
Centrepiece event: Idol Worship – An evening with Mink Stole & Peaches Christ
At the heart of the programme is IDOL WORSHIP – AN EVENING WITH MINK STOLE & PEACHES CHRIST (10 April). It is a revelatory and heartfelt cabaret show starring Mink Stole. The show also stars drag impresario and filmmaker Peaches Christ. Mink Stole and Peaches Christ have been close friends for over two decades. They host an evening of storytelling, film clips, and live song. This is a wildly entertaining and uncensored exposé. It is as hilarious as it is revealing. This is essential viewing for fans of John Waters, Divine, drag history, and trash cinema. Meet & Greet tickets will also be available. Audience members can enjoy a more personal encounter with these cult legends.
Centrepiece screening: brand-new 35mm print of Plan 9 From Outer Space
The other centrepiece is the world premiere of a brand‑new 35mm print of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959). This is Ed Wood’s notorious cult classic. It was struck from original materials preserved by the BFI National Archive. PLAN 9 was long circulated in poor‑quality formats. It was affectionately dubbed “the worst film of all time.” Now, it returns to the big screen as intended. It resurrects gothic icons Bela Lugosi and Vampira in bold monochrome 35mm. BFI National Archive curatorial and preservation staff will introduce Wood’s singular vision. They will also contextualise it, alongside writer and broadcaster Ken Hollings. He is a long‑time Ed Wood devotee. This is complemented within the season by Tim Burton’s homage ED WOOD (1994).
The Kuchar brothers and the joy of DIY camp
The programme pays tribute to avant-garde twins George and Mike Kuchar. Their Super 8 and 16mm films create entire worlds on minimal budgets. Mike Kuchar’s SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS (1965) is a camp sci‑fi midnight‑movie landmark. It tears up the status quo in search of new love and unbound desire. A special programme HOLD ME WHILE I’M NAKED, GEORGE KUCHAR! collects George’s iconic shorts. It showcases films from Hold Me While I’m Naked to Orphans of the Cosmos. Their cheap, camp aesthetics generate joy. It also creates inclusivity and melancholia in equal measure.
Shock, weirdness and exploitation as trash totems
Elsewhere, the season embraces “shock, weirdness and exploitative provocation” as central trash totems, with titles including REEFER MADNESS (1936), BLOOD FEAST (1963), NORMAL LOVE (1963), FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965), MULTIPLE MANIACS (1970), PINK FLAMINGOS (1972), TRASH (1970), THUNDERCRACK! (1975), ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MAN (1966), ELEVATOR GIRLS IN BONDAGE (1972), SALVATION! (1987), SUPER 8½ (1994), I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER (1993) and A FAMILY FINDS ENTERTAINMENT (2004). Together, they showcase how trash cinema has continually evolved – from exploitation and underground queer cinema to punk and 1990s video art – while staying true to its confrontational, transgressive spirit.
Tickets and access
Tickets for TRASH! THE WILDEST FILMS YOU’VE EVER SEEN at BFI Southbank are available via the BFI website and box office. Selected titles are also streaming to audiences across the UK on BFI Player.
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