The Attendant

Panorama 40 2019

A young white man visits a gallery of old master paintings. When the museum closes, he stays behind, arousing the sexual fantasies of an older black museum attendant. In one of these fantasies, the 19th-century painting ‘The Slave Trade (Slaves on the West Coast of Africa)’ by French artist François-Auguste Biard metamorphosises into a group of leather-clad gay men.
With an activist’s commitment, Isaac Julien takes a look at the sexual and racist dynamics of power from a cultural-historical perspective. Made with the support of the Black Audio Film Collective (1982-1998) in a period under the sway of Thatcherism and the AIDS crisis, the film impressively and poetically explores the topics of imperialism, queer self-determination, lust and death.

by Isaac Julien (Director, Screenplay), Mark Nash (Screenplay)
with Thomas Baptiste, Cleo Sylvestre, John Wilson United Kingdom 1993 8' Colour & Black/White

With

Thomas Baptiste (Museum Attendant)
Cleo Sylvestre (Conservator)
John Wilson (Visitor)

Crew

Director	Isaac Julien
Screenplay	Isaac Julien, Mark Nash
Cinematography	Nina Kellgren
Editing	Robert Hargreaves, James Bygrave
Music	Jimmy Somerville, Gary Butcher
Sound	Trevor Mathison, Edward George
Art Director	Mick Hurd
Costumes	Annie Curtis Jones
Producer	Mark Nash
Co-Production	Channel 4 London

World Sales

Normal Films

Produced by

Normal Films

Isaac Julien

The artist and filmmaker was born in London, UK in 1960. His debut film Looking for Langston screened in the 1989 Panorama and won the Teddy Award for Best Short Film. His feature Young Soul Rebels won the 1991 Semaine de la Critique prize at Cannes. In 2008, he received the Special Teddy for Derek, his documentary about Derek Jarman. His films and installations have featured in numerous renowned international museums. His recent solo exhibition at Tate Britain in London also toured Germany and the Netherlands. He is a Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California Santa Cruz where he co-leads the Moving Image Lab with Mark Nash. He is a recipient of The Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award and a Kaiserring Goslar Award. He was granted a knighthood as part of the Queen’s Honours List in 2022.

Filmography (selection)

1983 Who Killed Colin Roach?; short film 1984 Teritories; short film 1986 The Passion of Remembrance (Die Leidenschaft der Erinnerung); co-director 1987 This Is Not an AIDS Advertisement; short film 1989 Looking for Langston; short film 1991 Young Soul Rebels 1993 The Attendant; short film 1994 The Darker Side of Black; documentary 1996 Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Mask; documentary 2002 BaadAsssss Cinema; documentary 2008 Derek; documentary 2010 Better Life 2014 Playtime 2019 Lessons of the Hour 2025 Once Again... (Statues Never Die); short film

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025