A long-lost Billy Connolly documentary has been unearthed and will hit select cinema screens across the UK and Ireland from Friday 10 May.
Big Banana Feet captures Billy on and off stage during his tour of Ireland in 1975, when he was at the peak of international stardom.
The British Film Institute, which restored the film, describes it as a “captivating record” that is “inspired by the fly-on-the-wall style of DA Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan documentary Dont Look Back.”
Directed by Murray Grigor and cinematographer David Peat, the film features Connolly at his best: “using humor and charm to successfully navigate the political tensions of 1970s Dublin and Belfast.”
The rarely seen documentary was reinstalled using rare 16mm prints: one was recovered from a private collection while the other was held by the Pacific Film Archive Collection in the US.
A long-lost Billy Connolly documentary called Big Banana Feet has been unearthed and will hit cinema screens across the UK and Ireland from Friday 10 May.
Big Banana Feet was named as an ode to the famous and iconic boots that the comedian flaunted on stage (pictured in 1997). The documentary captures Billy on and off stage during his 1975 tour of Ireland, when he was at the peak of international stardom.
Big Banana Feet received its name as an ode to the famous and iconic boots that the comedian flaunted on stage.
The documentary is one hour and 17 minutes long and will be available in select theaters starting Friday, May 10, 2024; Scroll down to see the full list of locations.
It will also be available to purchase on DVD and Blu-ray on May 20, 2024 for £16.99.
Nicknamed Big Yin, Connolly worked as a welder in Glasgow shipyards before beginning a career as a folk singer.
When he discovered that the audience enjoyed his between-song banter more than the songs themselves, he moved on to comedy.
Throughout the 1970s, his anarchic, expletive-laden humor catapulted him to global fame.
He later starred in a number of films and hosted a long list of television shows.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease ten years ago, meaning he no longer performs live, but in recent years he has successfully channeled his creativity into art.
Billy shared a health update with his fans in February as he continues to battle the degenerative condition.
The documentary has a duration of one hour and 17 minutes and is available in selected theaters starting Friday, May 10, 2024.
Filmed over a weekend with a handheld camera, filmmaker Murray Grigor was inspired by DA Pennebaker’s iconic Bob Dylan rockumentary, Don’t Look Back.
Billy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease ten years ago, meaning he no longer performs live, but in recent years he has successfully channeled his creativity into art (pictured in 2019).
In February, she shared a health update with her fans as she continues to battle Parkinson’s disease (pictured in 2022).
He said GB News: ‘Being bad is strange. Everyone else is fine and you have this problem… you’re out of step.’
In a new interview, conducted by his wife Pamela Stephenson, he admitted that his balance is getting worse, causing him to suffer what she described as “a couple of bad falls.”
He explained how the disease was closing in on him, saying: “It’s very difficult to see the progression exactly, because a lot of things come and go.”
‘I have recently noticed a deterioration in my balance. It had never been a problem like this before, but in the last year it came and stayed.
‘For some reason, I thought it would go away, because so many symptoms have come and gone… just to challenge the symptom watchers. The shaking has reappeared.
With his typical irreverence, Connolly compared the situation to a joke he used to tell on stage as part of his routine.
He said: “It’s funny, that fall I had when I landed on my jaw reminded me of something I used to do on stage.” He used to say, ‘I fell out of bed, but fortunately my face cushioned the fall.’
He said: “It’s funny, that fall I had when I landed on my jaw reminded me of something I used to do on stage.” He used to say, ‘I fell out of bed, but fortunately my face cushioned the fall.’