Project Detail

Wolf

A portrait photograph of musician Patrick Wolf

Synopsis

Narrated through a deeply personal conversation with longtime friend Tilda Swinton, WOLF traces the extraordinary life of British musician Patrick Wolf.
A defining artist of his generation, Patrick Wolf rose from the backdrop of early 2000s London. Shapeshifting between indie pop star and avant-garde artist, he was a maverick of his time. All until school-day traumas, grief and his addiction collided, making music a painful memory.
The film is an exploration of resilience, the burden of being a singular LGBT voice and nature’s healing ability in finding that voice again. Interweaving present-day, animation and intimate material from over fifty hours of unseen archival footage, WOLF is a journey of hope that shows no-one has to be defined by the shadows of their past.

Details

Year
2026
Type of project
Features
Running time
88 min
Format
Digital
Director
Christian Cargill 1st Feature
Producer
Lucy Draper, Christian Cargill
Executive Producer
Tilda Swinton, Hannah Bush Bailey
Editor
Kevin Corry, Christian Cargill
Screenwriter
Christian Cargill
Director of Photography
Christian Cargill
Sound
Guy Chase
Composer
Owen Pallett
Principal cast
Patrick Wolf, Tilda Swinton

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Supported by BFI Doc Society Fund

Dalmatian Films

Christian Cargill
Studio 3
47 Staffordshire Street
London
SE15 5TJ

Page updates

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One of the defining musicians of his generation, Patrick Wolf first found fame in noughties London. Shapeshifting between avant-garde artist and queer popstar, he was a maverick of his time. All until 2012, when his life fell spectacularly to pieces and music became a painful memory. A decade of silence followed which saw Patrick confront immense addiction battles making him creatively incapable of finishing a song, ultimately leading him to escape the city that had both shaped and shattered him. HOWLS TO THE HARBOUR finds Patrick in his newfound home on the East coast of Kent, four years into recovery and beginning work on his first album in over thirteen years – all from his garden recording studio, surrounded by instruments, relics from his past and cats Ronnie and Percy. A portrait of an artist, connecting with creativity again after redefining their meaning of home.

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