Jarvis Cocker, Anna Calvi and more are set to perform at a special show in London to mark the release of the new Marianne Faithfull documentary, Broken English. Find all the details below.
The film, directed by BAFTA-winners Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard (20,000 Days On Earth), arrives in UK and Ireland cinemas on March 20, following its premiere at Venice Film Festival 2025.
To mark the release, a line-up of music guests will take to the stage at the Barbican Hall in the capital as part of a preview screening on Wednesday March 18, in partnership with Vue Lumière and the Barbican.
Pulp frontman Cocker is scheduled to be joined at the event by Calvi, Rufus Wainwright, Beth Orton and actor/musician Samantha Morton.
The vocalists will be backed by the film’s house band, led by musical director Rob Ell (PJ Harvey) and featuring Colin Greenwood (Radiohead), Ed Harcourt, Anna Phoebe and Adrian Utley (Portishead).
You can find more information about the show and buy tickets here.
Broken English is described as “an intimate and unflinching exploration of a fractured yet unbreakable life shaped by fame, creative genius and relentless public scrutiny”. The listing adds: “A genre-defying portrait of resilience and rebellion, a final fearless declaration, Marianna Faithfull’s defiant swan song.”
The documentary stars Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Nick Cave, Suki Waterhouse and Courtney Love, and draws on interviews, archival material and Faithfull’s final recorded performance.
Broken English will also be screened at Glasgow Film Festival and Dublin International Film Festival this spring, ahead of its UK and Ireland release. Other screenings have taken place at the 69th BFI London Film Festival and the US’ Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary is produced by Beth Earl of Rustic Canyon Pictures. The film’s executive producers include Thomas Benski, Marisa Clifford, Isabel Davies, Tim O’Shea (Magna Studios), Marc Robinson (Globe Originals), Julia Xu (Q&A Entertainment) and Victoria Steventon.
In a four-star review of Broken English, NME hailed the doc as “a beautiful celebration of defiant ‘60s icon Marianne Faithfull”. It added: “The undisputed highlight of the film are Faithfull’s various musical performances from across her career. Illustrating her many eras, we see her ace folk, rock, jazz, new wave and spoken word.”
Meanwhile, Courtney Love has revealed that she and Faithfull “hated being compared to each other”, explaining: “Marianne was an intellectual and I am not.”
A posthumous Faithfull EP, ‘Burning Moonlight’, arrived last year. The icon died in January 2025, aged 78.
