Ali Catterall
@alicatterall
Hello! Writer & filmmaker - roughly in that order ADHD Cat lover My co-directed debut 'Scala!!! Or the incredibly strange rise & fall of the world’s wildest cinema & how it influenced a mixed-up generation of weirdos & misfits' is now on BFI Player/Blu-ray
Incredibly sad to let you know my girlfriend, bezzie, co-author, and rock, Elise Burns has died. One of the kindest, most vital and spirited people I've ever known, her tireless campaigning with Dignity in Dying will literally be changing the world, for years to come. I love you so much, my darling.
I know it's a standing joke among my mates that I'm not a football person, and ironically, my current catsit residence backs onto Wembley Stadium, but I assure you, I'm absolutely fucking bricking it too from 8pm onwards.
Just waking up this morning to discover John Waters calling our SCALA!!! movie great. 😮❤️🙏 Thank you John! Full interview link here, to mark the paperback release of ReFocus: The Films of John Waters. youtu.be/Py6epI3PsdA
A personal record reached today. Two stone (28 pounds) lost in 43 days. Achieved through a triple-whammy of Keto, fasting, and strength training. No jabs needed! (I can't afford them.) Impetus: dragging myself out of high-pre-diabetes asap. And I guess I've almost certainly done that by now. Yay.
When I was a little kid, a pre-fame Philip Glass sometimes visited our Boho artists' squat off the King's Road when he was in London. He may have even babysat me. This is a pared-down version of 'Opening', one of Uncle Phil's early bangers.
Happy Birthday Ringo Starr. (Watch how Sophie literally closes her eyes when I sing "Close your eyes".)
The incredible heat led me to dream an entire 1972 movie this morning, in vivid detail. Immediately wrote it all down on waking. Here's more about "Petty Fit", written produced and directed by Roy Scheider. Thanks, subconscious.
One from the vaults. Just cos it's been on my mind, and what a gorgeous thing it is.
My and Jane's little film SCALA!!! is now FREE to watch for 14 days via this link, thanks to our lovely distributors, the BFI. And it has a terrific intro by Kermode too. player.bfi.org.uk/subscription... But do consider taking out a BFI player subscription too!
Two writings from me on Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy, 35-years-old. The first, my Guardian preview of a special BBC 6 Music documentary from earlier this week. The second, an extract from my own memoir-in-progress about the day the bailiffs paid a visit to our family, soon to be torn apart.
Consoling myself that I'm probably not the only one scrabbling around under the stairs to check the contents of my "emergency wicker basket" today. And possibly not the only Brit who optimistically thought a few tubs of 'sticky rib'-flavoured Pot Noodle would suffice.
Scratching Fanny: "Catch it" tonight... Here's my @theguardian.com preview of a new series of #Uncanny Cold Cases, on BBC Radio 4, with @dannyrobins.bsky.social.
I attended an HMRC webinar this morning on the new "Making Tax Digital" software system and utterly insane quarterly submission plan. It didn't go well.
Incredible tribute gig at the Barbican last night following the premiere of the new Marianne Faithfull film, Broken English, featuring Jarvis Cocker, Rufus Wainwright, Anna Calvi - and Beth Orton, seen here performing Sister Morphine and As Tears Go By.
Sometimes, two concurrent news stories conflate so perfectly on the same day, it's as they're twisted reflections of one another.
Just written this to a friend recently diagnosed with ADHD, and am posting it here, as it sums up pretty much everything I want to say - and in the hope it might assist others in some small way.
At the Coach and Horses, Greek Street, watching a performance of Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based in the Coach and Horses, Greek Street. While deeply hungover. It really doesn't get more meta or immersive than this.
This is a genuine 2022 interview with Andrew’s former royal protection officer, Paul Page, on 60 Minutes Australia.
