Gary Numan: Android In La La Land

A film by Steve Read and Rob Alexander, Gary Numan: Android In La La Land is part music doc, part road trip and part love story. A film two years in the making, it follows Gary along with his wife Gemma and their three young daughters; Raven, Persia and Echo – On tour, in the studio, on vacation and as he packs up home in leafy England and moves to Los Angeles…

In the late 70s and early 80s, Numan found fame as one of the world’s biggest-selling recording artists with huge hits like Are ‘Friends’ Electric? and Cars. Nobody had heard or seen anything like him. According to the press, he was a freak – one paper even suggested his mother should have been prevented from giving birth to him.

After more than 30 years in the business, hits, film soundtracks and a band of devoted fans , his influence is still felt today – cited by, to name just a few, Dave Grohl (Nirvana and Foo Fighters), Trent Raznor (Nine Inch Nails), Tricky and Marilyn Manson to Kanye West and Lady Gaga. The real Gary Numan story, however, embraces the Asperger’s syndrome that has informed his music and image and channelled his ambition but also brought major problems. Other issues have included depression, anxiety, near bankruptcy and a long period in the wilderness. Amidst all this, he fell in love with and married his biggest fan, Gemma, or as Gary himself puts it “everything changed the moment she came along.” ‘He talks about everything that’s happened in his life and where he is now with total honesty,’ explains co-director Steve Read. ‘We’ve had the most extraordinary access to one of the most extraordinary artists in the world today. It is as up close and personal as it gets.’ Producer Rob Alexander said: “Edinburgh has a great International Film Festival and we’re thrilled to have the film’s European Premiere there, and closing the East End Film Festival in London is something we are all really looking forward to.”

Android is a highly engaging, hugely revealing and at times hilarious, look at the life of one the world’s most intriguing music icons as he attempts to break America and record his first album in nearly a decade. This is it. The inside story. Lock, stock and eyeliner.

Gary Numan: Android In La La Land has its UK Premiere at EIFF on 19 June and will be released in UK & Irish cinemas from 26^th August.

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John McArthur

Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.