Paradise Lost: History in the Un-Making
When filmmaker Andy Howlett set out with his camera to document the final days of Birmingham's Brutalist Central Library complex, little did he know the rabbit hole he was stumbling into. Decried by the Council as an eyesore, but hailed by Historic England as an exemplar of postwar design, the story of John Madin's concrete colossus and the fight to save it is a curious one. In this psychogeographic detective story, Howlett weaves together archive footage with on-the-ground explorations in an attempt to figure out why we lost Paradise and how it might be regained.
Writer: Andy Howlett
Director: Andy Howlett
Trailer
Cast
James Harris
John Madin
Andy Howlett
Narrator
You may also like
Reconstruction of Hill Street Birmingham
1949
Rolling at The Tower
2025
Drinkers Like Me: Adrian Chiles
2018
A & E: When Patients Attack
2015
Risky Roadz: 0121
2021
Fight for the F.A. Cup
1963
Midland Journey
1947
Philoxenia
2021
The Workshop of the World: Birmingham
1930
The Ballad of Judas Priest
2026
Walsall Pact
