New film spotlights London’s Bubble Club, the party by people with learning disabilities
- Text by Roxana Diba
- Photography by Bubble Club (courtesy of)
Radically inclusive clubbing — Produced by Muddled Marauders and currently fundraising for completion, the feature documentary focuses on the inclusive night, which has been in operation since 2005.
A new feature film, Radically Inclusive Clubbing, is set to spotlight the underground world of accessible nightlife in London.
Produced by Muddled Marauders, the documentary follows five long-standing members of the inclusive clubbing space, who perform, host, support and dance at the Bubble Club – a learning disability arts programme that operates radical club nights for both learning disabled and non-disabled party-seekers.
The Bubble Club was set-up in 2005 to create space for people with learning disabilities to move freely and safely into the night, while also engaging in club culture. Over the past two decades, it’s grown an established community of people looking to go out, escape and connect. Yet, like much of the London nightlife ecosystem, where rising costs have suffocated independent clubs, Bubble Club is under threat.
Captured through dancefloor footage, interviews and cinematic segments, the documentary aims to serve as an official record of London’s inclusive club scene and exhibit the value of learning disability-led nightlife as places for freedom, connection and escape.
As regular Bubble Club member Lloydie puts it in the documentary’s trailer: “Clubbing is a very important thing. Because if you’ve had a really stressful day, music’s the cure, do you know what I mean? Clubbing’s for everybody. Doesn’t matter if you’ve got learning difficulties or not.”
For learning disabled people, the Bubble Club offers a means to enjoy clubbing in a safe space. Lloydie says that depending on where you go, that’s not always the case. “So why should the LD community miss out?” he asks.
The learning disabled community are key collaborators of the film; two members of the creative team are long-term producers of Bubble Club, and the soundtrack features learning disabled artists and labels.
A Crowdfunder campaign is currently underway to raise money to complete the project. The filmmakers are halfway to their £20,000 target, which will go towards finishing the documentary, post-production and preparing it for festival premieres.
Roxana Diba is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.
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