Shelf Life | Zine

A zine made for Shelf Life ticket holders, limited copies on sale.

Tina, Pam, and Scotty are taken down into Mom and Dad’s well-stocked bomb shelter when Kennedy is assassinated in 1963...and they never come out. Thirty years later, Mom and Dad are a long-dead 'bag of bones' and the now-grown kids have created a life for themselves based on remnants from the '60s, intermittent output from the TV and their wild imaginations.

A dark comedy based upon a theatrical production of the same name, Shelf Life was conceived and written by O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein and Jim Turner as a result of their rumination on what must become of people boxed in tiny spaces for long, long periods of time. Director Paul Bartel saw the closing night performance of the play in 1992 and within six weeks they had begun shooting the film, complete with a fully fabricated fallout shelter on the stages of CFI in Hollywood.

Despite a strong festival run and positive reviews, Shelf Life ultimately remained unreleased and never found the audience it deserved. After decades underground, the last remaining 35mm print was uncovered at the film archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and digitally restored. Matchbox's physical screening, at Cube Microplex, is the UK premiere.

This zine, produced to complement the programme, features new writing from Logan Kenny, Saffron Maeve and Joe Reid.

Edited, designed & published by Matchbox Cineclub.

A5, 16 pages | B&W | Digital printing | Saddle stitched

Part of Film Feels Hopeful, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Explore all films and events at filmfeels.co.uk.