Rock Out – World Premiere at Sheffield DocFest 2025

In electric, personal, and historical ways, this riveting documentary explores whether there is, or ever was, a home for Queer in the hyper-masculine, black painted worlds of heavy metal, punk and rock & roll.

Rock Out explores what space exists for Queer, in a variety of crucial ways, in the uncompromising and deeply masculine worlds of heavy metal, punk, and rock & roll. Excavating the often-veiled queer lives of some of the greatest culture-defining disruptors and masterminds of music in the 1960s and 70s, Rock Out demands to know what unique value ‘gay’ brought to creating and revolutionising rock, punk, and metal – from the perspective of managers, producers, artists and fans – and why those contributions have been left buried for so long.

Editor Paul Burgess worked on the film with Assistant Editor Hardeep Takhar to craft a documentary that explores a crucial piece of music history, in hopes to inspire today’s generation in the battles for visibility and equality. Paul shared one of the stories from the film.

“While weaving together the fascinating stories of the many queer architects of rock, I was moved in particular by that of Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager. As he was steering the band to superstardom, and putting himself increasingly in the spotlight, his secret gay life left him open to threats and blackmail, ultimately resulting in depression and his tragic death from an overdose at the age of just 32. Being able to reimagine the Beatles’ music to add poignancy to this sad tale was creatively very fulfilling“

Premiering at Sheffield DocFest 2025

8:15pm Saturday 21st June at The Crucible Theatre, followed by a conversation with director Dustin Lance Black and participants of the film, John Reid and Bill Gerber.

3:30pm Sunday 22nd June at The Light – Screen 9, followed by Q&A with director Dustin Lance Black.