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British director Julien Temple discusses his film London: The Modern Babylon 2012, an epic time-travelling voyage to the heart of his hometown. He talks about his strong links to the music scene and its importance of 'unlocking the vibe and spirit of a city.' Temple was studying at The National Film School when the punk scene was kicking off, he reflects on borrowing the schools cameras to sneakily film The Sex Pistols gigs, Malcolm McLaren banned all filming so would regularly kick Temple out of concerts. Temple decided to make McLaren an offer to film and document The Sex Pistols, a free exchange, McLaren accepted and Temple's film The Great Rock n Roll Swindle 1980 and The Filth and the Fury 2000 was born out of this arrangement. Not only did Temple want to document The Pistols but he wanted to tell the truth, to break down assumptions and myths about the band. McLaren considered himself to be the mastermind 'the puppeteer' but Temple shows that Johnny Rotten was a character of his own creation born out of real anger and fury. Absolute Beginners 1980 the musical, is an anti-racist film 'celebrating the anarchy of young people'. In order to get this made, Temple had to create a huge buzz to persuade the powers that be to finance it. It was so hyped up, it became a PR monster, 'causing an avalanche that eventually wiped them all out'. However, it was a hit in some parts of Europe and America. Temple went to Hollywood to make Earth Girls are Easy 1988 another low-fi musical about a girl that befriends some aliens. He decided in order to fund his feature films he would have to direct big budget music video's, a clip of Tom Petty's Free Fallin' is shown here. Temple returned back to his roots in London to make more music documentaries such as Oil City Confidential 2009, the story of the 'explosive and influential' band Dr Feelgood. The next film is Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten 2007. Temple talks about first meeting Strummer in a squat in west London, then a hippy with long hair, Temple recalls their next meeting, bumping into him at the Hundred Club where Strummer had completely 'punked out'. Temple started documenting The Clash but was threatened by Bernie Rhodes (The Clash's manager) and was made to choose between The Pistols and The Clash - he chose The Pistols creating bad blood between him and the Clash for years. The last project discussed is Rio 50 degrees 2014 where Temple offers a look at the cultural and social history of Rio de Janeiro.

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