Blue Jean

Another in the run of feature debuts we’ve got in store this term, this 80s-set drama perceptively recreates the era of institutional homophobia that its characters suffer through. Rosy McEwen is Jean, a PE teacher in a Newcastle school; this setting is key, as the Section 28 Bill, banning education around homosexuality had just been brought into law. Jean herself, though happily in a relationship with Kerrie Hayes’ Viv, must strictly protect her identity at work: a splitting of identity that begins to divide her life. The local queer community that has become respite for Jean is well evoked, and she notices one day that a pupil from her class - an outsider, often the subject of bullying - is present too. Suddenly Jean’s internal struggle is thrown into relief, as she must navigate the journey between sympathy and self-protection. This fraught drama is a great calling card for writer-director Georgia Oakley, and a timely reflection on the social issues of Thatcher’s Britain.