Bent is the film adaptation of Martin Sherman’s award-winning stage play.

First staged in 1979 with Sir Ian McKellen in the lead role, then staged on Broadway with Richard Gere, Bent is a critically acclaimed story of gay men in Nazi Germany – the unsung victims of fascist persecution.

A play of enduring power and popularity, Bent was adapted for the screen by UK production house Film4, with Clive Owen in the starring role. Owen plays Max, a dilettante in Berlin’s burlesque clubs who is openly queer. On the Night of the Long Knives, Max suddenly finds himself on the run, an enemy of the state.

He turns to friends and family for help, but he is destined for a concentration camp. Within the confines of the camp, Max meets and falls for Horst (Lothaire Bluteau, Jesus of Montreal). Amidst the horror of their existence, their secret affair will set them free.

A beautifully shot period piece, Bent features a haunting soundtrack by Philip Glass.

Bent also features extraordinary cameo performances by Sir Ian McKellen and Mick Jagger, who appears as a cross-dressing nightclub owner to serenade his audience.