Watch Trailer For Billy Conolly: Big Banana Feet Documentary

Billy Connolly is a Scottish institution, comedic legend highly recognisable world wide. In May the BFI will give his rarely seen Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet a cinematic outing, check out the new trailer.

Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet is a fascinating and hilarious record of irrepressible Scottish comedian’s 1975 Irish tour. This was on the cusp of his stardom at home and internationally. The film has been gathering dust and thankfully re-discovered and newly restored by the BFI.

Inspired by the fly-on-the-wall style of D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back, director Murray Grigor and cinematographer David Peat capture Connolly at his beguiling best, as he charms the audience in Dublin and at his famous engagement at the ABC Cinema in Belfast during the Troubles.

Rarely seen since its original release, BIG BANANA FEET is restored by the BFI using two rare 16mm prints, one held by the Pacific Film Archive collection in the USA and the other rediscovered recently in a private collection. The work was undertaken in collaboration with Murray Grigor, Douglas Weir (BFI), the National Library of Scotland, University of California and R3Store Studios.

Featuring iconic stand-up material and songs, there are also behind-the-scenes glimpses of ‘the Big Yin’ on the road with his crew, relaxing back stage and meeting the press. The banana boots that give the film its title first appeared in 1975. Made especially for Connolly by Glaswegian pop artist Edmund Smith, they became a regular fixture of his 70s shows and are now on display in the People’s Palace, Glasgow.

Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet is set for Glasgow Film Festival screenings (Sunday 3 and Monday 4 March) which have sold out. If your like us missed the chance, the film will be in UK cinemas on 10th May. Then on 20th May, it will be released on Dual format (Blu-ray & DVD) coming with a selection of extra features and an illustrated booklet. [Pre-order/Buy here].