Paradise Lost: History in the Un-Making
“One building stood as a testament to the promise of Paradise.”
2021•1h 24m•Released
Documentary
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.
Director
Andy Howlett
Writer
Andy Howlett
Languages
English
Cast
James Harris
John Madin
Andy Howlett
Narrator
Recommended
7.1
4 Little Girls
1997
7.8
Being James Bond
2021
7.1
The Class of ‘92
2013
7.2
Come See Me in the Good Light
2025
7.2
Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20
2022
6.2
Seduced and Abandoned
2013
6.4
A Toxic Love Story
2026
7.4
McQueen
2018
6.4
The Final: Attack on Wembley
2024
7.3
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
2012
7.6
To Kill a Tiger
2023
7.8
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
2000
7.4
The Director and the Jedi
2018
6.4
Fyre Fraud
2019
7.6
35 Up
1991
7.4
21 Up
1977
7.2
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye
2022
8
My Mom Jayne
2025
7.2
In the Realms of the Unreal
2004
7.3
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
2008
Similar Movies
Philoxenia
2021
Risky Roadz: 0121
2021
Rolling at The Tower
2025
The Workshop of the World: Birmingham
1930
5.9
Handsworth Songs
1986
Walsall Pact
0
10
Drinkers Like Me: Adrian Chiles
2018
The Ballad of Judas Priest
2026
7
A & E: When Patients Attack
2015
Midland Journey
1947
Fight for the F.A. Cup
1963
Reconstruction of Hill Street Birmingham
1949
5.3
I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle
1990
7
Tina Turner: Private Dancer Tour
1985
6.9
Tolkien
2019
5.1
1 Day
2009
5.3
Bhaji on the Beach
1993
6.7
Privilege
1967
Underdogs
0
6.6
Ray & Liz
2018