It Was Fifty Years Ago Today… Sgt Pepper and Beyond
Synopsis
As one of the biggest selling records of all time, described by Rolling Stone magazine simply as “The most important rock & roll album ever made…”, ‘Sgt Pepper’ (released in June 1967) marked a pivotal moment in the 1960s, cementing the advent of Psychedelia and the Summer of Love.
This documentary journies through various solo projects to the release of Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane, touching on flower power, John Lennon meeting Yoko Ono, LSD, meditation, Jimi Hendrix, the death of Brian Epstein, Abbey Road Studios and the Magical Mystery Tour.
Among the interviewees featured in the film are Hunter Davies (the band’s official biographer), Pete Best (the band’s original drummer), music manager Simon Napier-Bell and author Philip Norman, who has written biographies of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and of Paul McCartney among others.
Details
- Year
- 2017
- Type of project
- Features
- Running time
- 114 mins
- Director
-
Alan G. Parker
- Producer
- Reynold D'Silva, Alexa Morris
- Executive Producer
- Tim Grohne
- Editor
- Ian Farr
- Director of Photography
- Steve Kendrick
- Composer
- Andre Barreau, Evan Jolly
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
A Geezer & A Blonde Productions London (UK) production
Sales Company
Primal Screen
Tim Grohne32 Woodfield Road
London
W9 2BE
Page updates
This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Spacewoman
Director: Hannah Berryman
Year: 2024
A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle. Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all. At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere
Elegy for the Lost
Director: William Hong-xiao Wei
Year: 2025
Through the psychoanalytic and introspective voiceover of a young post-pandemic Chinese migrant in Europe, the film interweaves her private memories of intimacy with public narratives of resistance. As her reflections unfold, she and her community navigate secrecy, repression, survival, looming precarity, and displacement, all while confronting the personal cost of existing in a world that demands their silence.
Monsters
Director: Andy Field, Beckie Darlington
Year: 2025
Created in collaboration with local children in one of the most environmentally fragile areas of the UK, this experimental documentary repurposes the tropes of Hollywood monster movies to explore young people’s real feelings and fears through an imaginary framework. This fantasy apocalypse becomes a safe space for the children to reflect on adaptation, resilience and an uncertain future.