Catch up TV

Episode 04 November 2022

A 90-minute feature film that drills into the soul of this extraordinary, magical Island and releases the story of 3,000 years of Ibizan history. Julien Temple’s iconic trademark style sends its audience on the ultimate, emotionally exhilarating and groundbreaking time-travel ride through the psyche of this jewel of the Mediterranean.\n\nThis is a story of extremes and the fight for the very soul of the White Island. A story of sensuality, hedonism, spirituality, ancient ways of life and new ways of living. An island, despite wave after wave of brutal occupation, whose free spirit of tolerance and acceptance of others has somehow managed to survive, absorbing, welcoming and sheltering people and cultures from around the Mediterranean and the world beyond. Ibiza’s bohemian heart now faces its strongest challenge yet: to continue to beat strongly in the face of the ever-growing annual invasion of wealthy socialites and the gentrification of the island in the name of progress.\n\nThe film re-enacts, with cameo Hollywood performances, forgotten epic moments in the history of the island. From irresistible sirens who seduced and shipwrecked Odysseus with their honeyed songs to the Carthaginians, Romans, Vikings and Moors; from the refugees of Franco's civil war to the McCarthy blacklists of Hollywood; from the early hippy beat paradise of the 1950s to the pan-European free zone that is Ibiza today; from the sexual rites of the Phoenician love goddess Tanit to disco sunrises at super-clubs like Pacha, Space, Amnesia and DC-10, Ibiza has always been out there on the frontier of human experience. This island has seen it all and so will our audience.\n\nAdopted home of Orson Welles, Errol Flynn, Denholm Elliott, Sid Vicious, Joni Mitchell, Robert Plant, Terry-Thomas, master forger Elmyr de Hory, convicted fraudster Clifford Irving and, of course Elle, Naomi and Kate, Ibiza has always proved irresistible to celebrities on the run from themselves. Today’s residents including Jade Jagger and Guy Laliberte (founder and owner of Cirque du Soleil), and regular visitors to the island that include Madonna and Leonardo Di Caprio, all play a part in maintaining the continued fascination of this magical isle.\n\nTo match the unique nature of the island itself, the film breaks new ground by delivering the first culture movie for audiences to dance to. The visual feast of original footage and archive, delivered silently with animation, graphics and text to enhance the narrative, combines with a pulsating non-stop soundtrack mixed by some of the world’s top DJs, enabling audiences to immerse themselves both physically and emotionally in the experience. \n

Source: BBC 4