Pest Productions

28 mins 2004 (UK)

Synopsis

In 1974 in a dingy, small office in Kings Cross, the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard answered its first call. This documentary celebrates thirty years as one of the most successful community information lines in the world, gay or straight. Volunteers, past and present, paint a personal history of the British gay community in a series of equally sombre and funny tales. Patrons Chris Smith MP, and author Sarah Waters, add their own thoughts on the importance and relevance of Switchboard. Past volunteers muse on the early days of gay liberation as well as the devastating impact of HIV. Volunteers who offered their services in the seventies are now some of the most influential characters in the fight against HIV in the UK, and their illuminating interviews are included in the film. They include Nick Partridge, director of the Terence Higgins Trust, and Gus Cairns, Editor of Positive Nation. Three life-changing stories are also told by people who made calls to Switchboard, highlighting the huge range of reasons why people have called Switchboard over its long history.

Comic relief is provided by Scott Capurro, Chris Green, and Amy Lame.

Narrated by Sue Perkins.

Festival Screenings

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2004

Cast & Crew

Director	Michele Hickson & Jules Nurrish
Producer	Michele Hickson &Jules Nurrish
Editor	Michele Hickson
Camera	Michele Hickson
	Rory Perkins
Interviews	Jules Nurrish
Narrator	Sue Perkins
Sketches	Scott Capurro
	Chris Green
	Amy Lame
Additional music	Max Mason

Press

Carry on Calling was rated Best Documentary by Diva:

'Don’t miss this half-hour documentary about the history of the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. On the one hand, this is a straight forward piece of documentary film-making – lots of talking heads, including contributions from celebs such as Sarah Waters and Chris Smith, film footage from early London Pride marches, with some comic relief, including Amy Lame as an ace Switchboard staffer. On the other hand, Carry on Calling is a powerful reminder of what being a part of the queer community is all about – helping each other when no one else will. Interviews with past and present Switchboard volunteers are interspersed with the views of callers, including one desperate young man who never got through. If day to day life is grinding you down and you’ve forgotten what collective action can accomplish, buy a ticket for this film.'

Carry on Calling was rated Most Surprising Documentary by Gay Times:

'The London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard is 30 years old this year, and some people are still trying to get through. What started as an offshoot of several existing lesbian and gay organisations soon found itself at the forefront of the capital’s emerging gay scene, when it began to operate from a cramped and dingy office above Housman’s bookshop. Directors Jules Nurrish and Michele Hickson have tracked down former volunteers, many now famous faces, to tell the story of the rigorous training sessions, the wank calls, and how the phone lines went stellar after the Thatcher Government put Switchboard’s number on safer sex and Aids literature with virtually no consultation.
What could so easily have been a sow’s ear of a documentary is turned into a silk purse, as they’ve even tracked down former callers, including one who never got through and attempted suicide, to tell an important piece of gay history.'