Erase and Forget + Andrea Luka Zimmerman and James Mackay in conversation with BFI National Archive curator William Fowler

A double bill of two films where my film Erase and Forget was in conversation with Ron Peck's What to do with a Male Nude? explored by situating them with each other in one program. With James Mackey and William Fowler we engaged also in a post screening discussion, exploring how these two films, focusing on the 1980s Hollywood action hero Rambo, conjure ideas of masculinity and the nature of the male body in culture and what seems to be an era of permanent conflict. We talked in particular about a reframing of what masculinity assumes within mainstream culture, around censored bodies, and hubristic self-imaginings as nurtured though a militaristic imaginary and society.

BFI notes: Two films from the BFI National Archive explore the charged and imagistic power of the 1980s Hollywood action hero alongside the complex representation of the male nude. These bold artefacts return us to an era that celebrated and visually pawed gun-toting, oiled, muscular hunks, yet feared male flesh and close homosexual connection. Erase and Forget digs deep into the story of survivalist, mercenary and inspiration for Rambo, Bo Gritz, with whom Andrea Luka Zimmerman works to unpick his contradictory, politically complex life. The playfully provocative What Can I Do With a Male Nude? questions the conflicted status of the naked man across classical art and contemporary cinema, as well as in the home. The late Ron Peck had always hoped his film could be shown alongside Rambo.

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