essence of people and what makes them tick. That tour was the
moment I was like, “I’m going to be a filmmaker.”
It was at that point that Ian Astbury from British band The Cult
gave me a book called Conquest by Andrea Smith, which explores
the enforced sterilisation of Native American women. I said to him,
“I’d love to make a film about it for the rest of the world, because
I didn’t know anything about this.” So he paid for me to go and do
a couple of test shoots, and I met these incredible Native American
women who’d suffered horrific abuse without their knowledge.
I went out there once a year to film, then I’d come back to England
and work to get money and equipment, and when the bands went
on tour I’d go with them. That was quite a slow process.About 10 years ago, I got a call from Josh Homme from Queens
of the Stone Age. Vivienne Westwood had cornered him at a party
and said, “I’ve written this rap song, can you do it?” He said yes,
but asked Unkle to record it for her because they were in London- they said to me, “You should totally come and film this.”
I didn’t really know anything about her – I knew she was a famous
fashion designer, but knew nothing about her past, so I went
along not knowing what to expect. I remember the day so clearly:
this older woman walked in with these six-inch platform shoes
and I remember being struck by lightning. She was so sexy and
beautiful, which we’re never told women can be as they get older.
She asked who I was, where I’d come from, what I was doing.
I explained the project I was working on with Native American
women, Ama, and she was really interested. We spent time
chatting, and the following week I got sent a t-shirt of hers with
a letter saying she enjoyed the talk, thank you very much.
About four years ago, I bumped into Vivienne again and she was
like, “We’re doing a fashion film, so maybe you should do a pitch
for it.” I wrote a piece called Red Shoes and they agreed to make
it. It was a really special time for me, and through that process
I got to know Vivienne a lot more; she’d tell me little anecdotes
in passing about her childhood, or how hard it was when she
started out on her own – those years of being in the wilderness,
trying to make it work. As a young woman starting out in the world
of art, I listened with my jaw dropped, so inspired by her sheer
determination. That’s when I decided I wanted to make a film about
her. She wasn’t into it at first, but she slowly came around to it.
I realised she wasn’t just a punk in the ’70s and ’80s – she’s
actually more of a punk now. She’s always been an activist, she’s
always been a punk, and what she is today is an embodiment of
everything she talks about. All in all, making the film was about
a four-year process from start to finish. We found out last December
that we got into Sundance, and I think I almost had a panic attack.
This year is the culmination of everything I’ve wanted to do – two
scripts I wrote a couple of years ago have been optioned. One is
a story based on my time on the streets, which we’re shooting in
spring next year; the other I wrote when I was in rehab, and that
will happen afterwards.
I hated what I put myself through my whole life, and I really
scarred myself emotionally. But now I realise that’s why I am who
I am, and if you took any of it away, I wouldn’t be able to touch
people or talk to people or work with people or empathise with
people. I’m at peace with what I went through, because I’m really
happy with how I am and what I’m doing now.Photo
Leanne Dixon
pieces of me