Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral follows the story of six childhood outsiders from Merseyside as they transform into one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium. Their high-energy blend of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll revitalised the doldrums of the post-Britpop music scene.
Narrated by the band, the film is an immersive experience that creatively combines reconstruction, archive footage, and animation to capture the early 2000s era through the eyes of six northern teenagers, who together created their own strange, endlessly creative escapist universe. As the friends leave their sleepy hometown of Hoylake in pursuit of musical glory, the spotlight eventually finds them, but is it fame they’re after, or is it just being together?
With appearances from The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons, and Tramp Attack, Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral is a dreamscape of friendship, fame, and fuzzy guitars. The film commemorates The Coral from their working-class Merseyside roots, through their rise in Liverpool’s Bandwagon Scene, going on to become one of the UK’s most influential bands.
For director James Slater, the creative direction for the film was as important as the story itself, speaking on this James said, “I wanted Dreaming of You to be an immersive experience—one that transports us back to Northwest England in the late ’90s and early 2000s. …The visual aesthetic of the film is further enhanced by the formats used to shoot both the GVs and reconstructions—Mini DV, Hi-8, 16mm, and 8mm—all mediums that were used to document the band at the time. This rich visual tapestry is accompanied not only by the band’s musical archive but also by a layered sound design that further immerses us in the era, embedding us deeply within the time and place.”
On celebrating the World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, director James Slater commented, “It’s an honour to be part of Sheffield DocFest, especially alongside such an incredible line-up of films. Dreaming of You is a northern coming-of-age story at heart, so it feels especially fitting for the journey to begin here…”.
Dreaming Of You: The Making Of The Coral will premiere at the Sheffield Doc Fest on the 21st of June.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgwK9JchqEU
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
