Glastonbury 1993 Documentary Rereleased in 4K After 30
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- Glastonbury, the 1993 festival documentary, has been remastered in 4K and rereleased for its 30th anniversary during a fallow year for the real festival
- Directors William Beaton, Robin Mahoney, and Matthew Salkeld shot the film at the 1993 festival using a chronological three-day structure, alternating camp wandering with stage excerpts via frequent split-screen
- A youthful Dexter Fletcher features in approximately 18% of the footage, alongside performances from Stereo MCs playing Connected, a pre-fame Verve doing Gravity Grave, and Porno for Pyros
- Shot partly in Panavison CinemaScope, the film alternates between Mad Max-style ramshackle grandeur and arcadian tableaux that the reviewer reads as evidence the original hippy spirit survived into 1993
- A Converse-branded hot-air balloon drifting into one shot is flagged as the writing on the wall for the festival's commodification, with the reviewer calling the film 'almost shocking' as a record of an 'original state of grace'
- The reviewer contrasts this release with Julien Temple's 2006 Glastonbury tribute, calling the new cut 'less purposefully structured' but offering 'main-stage energy' the Temple film lacked
Why it matters: The 30th anniversary re-release lands during a Glastonbury fallow year, giving fans their only documentary fix — and a rare window into the festival's pre-corporate era, complete with a telling Converse-branded hot-air balloon drifting through the frame as the first visible sign of the sponsorship era to come.
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