The story of six working-class Wirral teens that shook the British Indie scene
J6 Films is delighted to share that Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral will have its sold out World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest on 21st June. Due to popular demand, additional screenings have now been added on 22nd June for the definitive documentary on the hit Merseyside band The Coral.
“If you’re going to tell the story of “If you’re going to tell the story of The Coral, then it would be about growing up. An adventure that led to an album.” Nick Power, The Coral
Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral follows the story of six childhood outsiders from Merseyside as they transform into one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium. Their high-energy blend of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll revitalising the doldrums of the post-Britpop music scene.
Narrated by the band, the film is an immersive experience that creatively combines reconstruction, archive footage, and animation to capture the early 2000s era through the eyes of six northern teenagers, who together created their own strange, endlessly creative escapist universe. As the friends leave their sleepy seaside hometown of Hoylake in pursuit of musical glory, the spotlight eventually finds them but is it fame they’re after or is it just being together?
With appearances from iconic indie bands The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons and Tramp Attack, Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral is a dreamscape of friendship, fame and fuzzy guitars. The film commemorates The Coral from their working-class Merseyside roots, through their rise in Liverpool’s Bandwagon Scene, going on to become one of the UK’s most influential bands.
“The First incarnation of the band was a Ghosthunting business” James Skelly, The Coral
For director James Slater, the creative direction for the film was as important as the story itself, speaking on this James said
“I wanted Dreaming of You to be an immersive experience—one that transports us back to Northwest England in the late ’90s and early 2000s. …The visual aesthetic of the film is further enhanced by the formats used to shoot both the GVs and reconstructions—Mini DV, Hi-8, 16mm, and 8mm—all mediums that were used to document the band at the time. This rich visual tapestry is accompanied not only by the band’s musical archive but also by a layered sound design that further immerses us in the era, embedding us deeply within the time and place.”
On celebrating the sold out World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, director James Slater commented “It’s an honour to be part of Sheffield DocFest, especially alongside such an incredible line-up of films. Dreaming of You is a northern coming-of-age story at heart, so it feels especially fitting for the journey to begin here…”.
Screening Details
World Premiere Sat 21 June at 12:30 Showroom
Extended Q&A with director James Slater and the band The Coral.
The Coral formed on the Wirral, Merseyside, in the mid-nineties. Emerging from Liverpool’s vibrant late-’90s garage rock scene, they quickly caught the attention of Alan Wills, who, captivated by their eclectic sound, founded DeltaSonic Records around them. Their 2001 debut single, Shadows Fall, earned national recognition, and they were soon hailed as pioneers of a new wave of rock ’n’ roll energy—an antidote to the stagnation of the post-Britpop era.
Their self-titled 2002 debut album, featuring the now-iconic single Dreaming of You, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and named the best album of the year by NME. They followed it up with Magic and Medicine (2003), a critical and commercial triumph that topped the UK charts and produced four Top 20 singles, including Pass It On, Bill McCai, and Don’t Think You’re the First.
Over three decades, The Coral have remained one of the UK’s most enduring and consistently inventive bands. They have released eleven studio albums, including The Invisible Invasion (2005), Roots & Echoes(2007), and Coral Island (2021), blending elements of psychedelic folk, Garage folk, with their own unique brand of haunting dreamlike melody. Their influence can be heard in the work of later British indie acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Blossoms, who credit The Coral with shaping their sound.
Still together after 30 years, The Coral continue to evolve while maintaining their blend of melody, storytelling, and experimental edge—securing their place as one of the most distinctive and influential British bands of their generation.
James Slater
James Slater, Director’s Statement:
In December 2002, my friend Neil showed up at my flat in Toxteth, Liverpool, beaming. Alan Wills, manager of Britain’s hottest new band, The Coral, had called— they wanted us, two broke, DIY music video directors, to shoot their next promo.
The single was Don’t Think You’re The First, a haunting, psychedelic shuffle. The label had planned a £50k video, but the band, skeptical of industry gloss, scrapped it in favour of our lo-fi, Mini-DV approach. We arrived at the shoot with two camcorders strapped to a plank—our makeshift Steadicam.
The Coral were a gang—insular, tight-knit, and uninterested in industry games. But once you were in, you were in. That job changed everything. Within weeks, we were in L.A. filming Pass It On, then in Holland for Bill McCai, always just Neil, me, and a spare pair of hands. Our scruffy, no-tech videos somehow fit perfectly between the polished promos on Sony’s roster.
My filmmaking career started with The Coral, and in many ways, always leads back to them. So when James Skelly approached me to make a film celebrating their debut album, it felt inevitable. I dug out my old Mini-DVtapes, picked up boxes of scrapbooks, and pieced together a story.
Footage of backyard wrestling matches, kung fu films, and Easy Rider remakes (retitled Lazy Rider on the Wirral) revealed a band rooted in friendship—a group of misfits who just wanted to play music together. In interviews, a clear story emerged: they weren’t chasing fame, they were chasing greatness. Rob Stringer, head of Sony, once told me, They could’ve been massive, but they didn’t want it. He was right. They didn’t want to be the biggest—just the best.
Even today, artists seek me out because of my work with The Coral. They’re one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium, and I hope this film shines a light on a group that deserves far more recognition.
About J6 Films:
J6 Films is a production company and a collective of critically acclaimed directors.
Director: James Slater
Featuring: The Coral: James Skelly, Paul Duffy, Nick Power, Ian Skelly, Paul Molloy,
Past members: Bill Ryder-Jones, Lee Southall and Alan Wills, Rob Stringer (Sony), Ian Broudie (The Lightning Seeds), Dave McCabe (The Zutons), Supergrass, Oasis
CUBA & ALASKA Director Yegor Troyanovsky, currently serving in Special Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will be present for the film’s Q/A
Ukrainian Army frontline medics ‘Cuba’ and ‘Alaska’, the two stars of the feature documentary, are already in-person at the festival
See-Through Films has confirmed Filmmaker Yegor Troyanovsky, whose feature documentary CUBA & ALASKA is world premiering at Sheffield Doc Fest, is currently traveling to Sheffield from his active military service in the Ukraine Army’s Special Forces.
As of late Thursday, June 20, 2025, Troyanovsky had successfully crossed the Ukrainian border and was expected to arrive at the festival in time for the film’s second screening Q/A. The screening is scheduled for Saturday, June 21st at The Light-Screen 9, at 10:15am.
The film profiles best-friends “Cuba” & “Alaska”, two wisecracking medics on Ukraine’s frontline, living the same battlefield story as all soldiers: slowly losing connections with friends, family and their previous lives the longer they stand up for Ukraine. In a place where laughter is armor and friendship is survival, can the two ever go back to the life they used to know?
‘Cuba’ (Yulia Sidorova) and ‘Alaska’ (Olexandra) had already arrived in the UK ahead of the film’s world premiere screening on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Both were welcomed at the Ukrainian Embassy in London by the Ukraine Ambassador.
“”It is a great honor for me to meet the heroines of this deep and sincere film. These women are true symbols of the strength of the Ukrainian people. In the most difficult times, they demonstrate courage, resilience and boundless love for Ukraine. Their stories are about the struggle for freedom, dignity and life. It is thanks to such people that Ukraine holds on, and the world sees that we are fighting not only for our land, but for values common to all civilized humanity. I thank the authors of the film for this extremely important work, which helps Europe and the world better understand Ukraine and its indomitable people,” said General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ambassador of Ukraine.
CUBA & ALASKA is a raw and intimate profile of two Ukrainian medics from the frontlines of the war that captures the funny; the arcane, and the painfully tragic times that make up a soldier’s emotional journey during wartime. Body cams, cell phones, and the director’s camera fill in the story between the constant danger, bouts of survivors’ guilt, and a longing to ‘go back’ – to return to the life they had when dreams were still possible. Fueled by the enormously contagious laughter from Cuba, and the dark black humor of Alaska, the two best friends face down the unknown together with a warrior fierceness befitting Thelma & Louise.
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