Official Selection laurel for the British Shorts film festival.

Bachelor, 38 film poster: an illustrated portrait of Bryan Robert Bale, a bald man in black-framed glasses and a black leather jacket, on a gold background.

Credits

Director / Producer: Angela Clarke

Editor: Dean Smith

Composer: Stuart Fox

Dub: Sean Richards

Bachelor, 38 is an enduring love story of one man’s time in London during the early 1960s. Coming of age as a young homosexual in a society still labouring under deep-seated prejudice, his discovery of the illicit ways through which gay men still sought to live and love freely in the city drew him into a world where sexual liberty and romantic frivolity persevered through the darkest of days for Britain’s gay community.

Amongst the “small ads” on the back page of The Sunday Times, he was introduced to a secret message board used by homosexual men to seek out company. Illegally connecting with one another to arrange a night of forbidden intimacy or pursue a lifetime of romance.

These small ads opened up a boundless world of sex, adventure and possibility. Few people would ever realise that hidden on the back pages of these newspapers, printed in plain sight for all to see, were countless untold stories of first loves, irrepressible desires and true romance.

This is one of those stories. Told by the man who lived it.

Bachelor, 38 was nominated for a BAFTA Short Film Award, and featured as part of the BAFTA Shorts 2019 Touring Package. Following a short UK theatrical run, the film had a limited online release with Curzon Home Cinema and was later acquired by the BBC.

Angela Clarke’s Bachelor, 38 is a terrifically funny and engaging interview with Bryan Bale, who looks back over his life without sentimentality or self-pity, talking about life, love and bereavement as a gay man in 60s London.

Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian ★★★★

Clarke’s doc is also one of the most poignant and bittersweet of the five nominated films, it’s subtly insightful and hits home with a beautiful, warm message from Bryan’s life-story… so far. I feel it’ll connect with anyone who’s ever loved and Bryan leaves you with reflective, important messages, whatever age you are. No dress rehearsal, this is our life.

Dan Bullock - Critical Popcorn

Clarke has condensed the interview with Bryan down, and shorn the film clean of everything but the most pivotal moments in the story. This is not to say that it is a tale of great drama, and Clarke understands that the small moments in a life are often the ones which resonate most deeply.

Fergus Henderson - battleroyalewithcheese.com

Iris Prize & Best British Award – Official Selection

Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival – Commendation for Best British Short

Queer Screen’s 26th Mardi Gras Film Festival – Official Selection

Melbourne Queer Film Festival – Official Selection

Pink Lobster Film Festival, Canada – Official Selection

13th British Shorts Film Festival, Berlin – Official Selection

Filmets Badalona Film Festival, Spain – Official Selection

Festival Internacional de Cine De Ponferrada – Screened

Helsinki International Film Festival – Screened

Manusia Film Festival – Screened

Pink Apple Film Festival – Screened