MFF: Memory of Mod
Margate has always been a town with attitude. In the summer of 1964, its seafront became the backdrop for one of the defining clashes of British youth culture, when mods and rockers descended on the town in scenes that would become the stuff of legend. Sixty years on, we’re bringing that story back to the big screen.
Join us for a night celebrating the joy, defiance and style of British youth culture, from the coffee bars and scooter gangs of the 1950s and 60s to the violent seaside showdowns immortalised in film.
An evening of archive and classic film, celebrating the birth of British youth culture. Plus a special installation.
Quadrophenia (1979, dir. Franc Roddam)
Jimmy is nineteen, a mod, a face, a nobody. He lives for the weekend: the pills, the dancing, the scooter, the gang. But when the dream starts to crack, he heads to Brighton in search of something he can’t quite name. What follows is one of British cinema’s most electrifying portraits of youth, identity and the desperate need to belong.
Featuring a soundtrack by The Who and starring Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Sting and Ray Winstone, Quadrophenia remains as sharp, funny and heartbreaking as the day it was made.
Share your memories
Were you there? Did you live it? Bring your photos, your stories, your badges. We’ll be collecting memories from Margate’s own mods and rockers on the night, and we’d love yours to be part of it.
After the film, the night continues at HOFFs with a mod versus rocker afterparty. More details to follow.