If it works in Plymouth, it’ll nail it everywhere.
Directed & Edited by Daniel Howard-Baker
Produced by Louis Holder
Associate Producers
7.1 Sound Mix by Isabell Derr
Colourist Zain Harris
Witness the rise and fall of The Warehouse, a rave venue from Plymouth and times gone by now reduced to a derelict shell. We explore its history, its people and the future. An amateur filmmaker-explorer finds the building in an empty derelict state, long after the prosperous life and energy it endured through the 90s. Through a combination of archives and stories of people who lived there, the film explores through the medium of analogue what once was and how even a now silent derelict shell can become the centre of the universe.
OFFICAL FINAL TRAILER
Screenings Information
Sunday 6 Sept 2026 — Everyman Cinema (Featuring Calling You), Plymouth, Devon, from 5:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Wednesday 23 Sept 2026 — ODEON Worcester (WIFF), Worcester, from 11:15am. Get your tickets Here.
Wed 23 Sept 2026 — The Cinema Museum, Kennington, London from 7:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Sat 26 Sept 2026 — Studio 74 (Exeter Phoenix) (Featuring a Director Q&A + Human Traffic), Exeter, Devon, from 8:00pm. Get your tickets Here.
Fri 2 Oct 2026 — Saltash Studios, Saltash, Cornwall, from 7:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Sat 3 Oct 2026 — THE WAREHOUSE, Plymouth, Devon, THE FINAL SCREENING, from 2pm. Get your tickets here. Tickets go on sale on the Monday 7th September at 10:00am.
Statement from Director
Plymouth, like many places in the western hemisphere, has an epidemic of abandoned buildings and spaces. The idea originally came about to explore these buildings and their history and to compare and contrast to now. It’s a striking idea that all the buildings and spaces we hold dear growing up can be snuffed away in an instant as if it never existed and your memories of it mere dreams. I came across the former Warehouse club only through online threads and anecdotes, discovering a massive eye sore of a building that remained hidden and invisible to me growing up. But despite being invisible to the passer by or driver, it remains a sarcophagus of music and memory ready to explode.
Plymouth is a city with the characteristics of everything great and terrible about Britain simultaneously. From its lush seaside views, heritage streets and culture to its concrete jungle estates, poverty and violent crime. In Plymouth, it is the best of times and the worst of times. The Warehouse, and the five or so clubs in its interior, had everything you want in a club – a diversity of music, people, drinks, drugs, strobes, chill outs, massive speakers and a MC to drive the night through – a microcosm for the grand state of clubland across the globe.
With this exploration into W we explore the rest of Britain and the world in its decline and development and see what place nightlife and youth spaces have in our world as we progress into the new century.
Statement from Producer
I was immediately drawn to the film’s premise, and how it could speak volumes about the communities it represents – past and present. Plymouth is constantly wrapped in its past through the derelict, ghost-town buildings which line Union Street’s pavements and adjoining streets. Beyond the derelict facade lies the memories of those Ravers, DJs and staff. Where are they now? What was Clubland really like? Could there be a future for the young of today and club culture more widely?
Documentary has always had the power to invoke meaningful conversation(s) – I’m a firm believer in that it is one of the most powerful modes of cinematic storytelling. I think what is a potentially exciting prospect to think about is how W: Return to Oz could inspire audiences to reconsider the history around them; from the buildings they walk past on their daily commute which were once home to iconic venues to getting inspired to recreate some of those good times in the contemporary era through new projects. Could something as underground as W and those clubs were in the years before Social Media took hold be resurrected? In some ways, in the post-pandemic era, from what I’ve witnessed so far – there is evidence to suggest we are coming full circle to times of being fully present, off-screen and engaged with real people once more. Could this societal behaviour endure and result in a new generation of clubs?
I hope you all enjoy the film, and take something away from it. Whether you’re a former Raver, not even necessarily from Plymouth or the South West, a DJ/musician or other music-maker – there’s something for everything in this film which paints at once an exhilarating portrait of Clubland as it was; paired with a stark portrait of times gone bad, and a beacon of hope for the future.
Green shoots are possible – even in as difficult a sector as Nightlife Culture, as we witness in the film. W: Return To Oz begins its festival run in Autumn 2025 and continues touring Festivals; predominantly in the UK, throughout 2026.
Brief History of Union Street
In the backdrop of The Warehouse is the infamous Union Street, a former cesspit of bars, clubs, drinkers, fighters, workers and lovers. The Union Street’s influence over Plymouth’s nightlife grew from the proximity to its historical Naval deports such as Mill Bay, Devonport and Torpoint, where young sailors after months at sea come on land to blow off steam. When it was first constructed between Plymouth’s divided cities of Stonehouse and Devonport in 1820, it was a wealthy plush estate. As it progressed into the 20th century, it became Plymouth’s red light district. A hyper concentration of Bars and clubs for the influx of Naval punters and to serve the local working class community entertainment and leisure.
Since the 80s and 90s, bars and clubs started to diminish. Places closed down or gentrified into apartments or just left astray to be at the mercy of the elements – abandoned and broken beyond repair. Confusions and neglect over ownerships and wanting to preserve the grade I and II listed buildings, we have now a ghost street of memory with its stories, characters and music ready to burst.
Archive & Production Stills
Past Screenings:
Sunday 5 October 2025 — Plymouth Arts Cinema in Plymouth, Devon, at 6.30pm.
Wednesday 22 October 2025 — London Breeze Film Festival, London.
Friday 24 October 2025 — Century Club Soho, Doc’n Roll Film Festival UK, in Soho, London.
Friday 14 November 2025 — Close-up Cinema in Sclater Street, Tower Hamlets, London from 6.30pm. Details: here.
Saturday 15 November 2025 — Genesis Cinema, Bethnal Green, London from 12.11pm. Details: here
Tuesday 25 November 2025 — Vue Piccadilly in Regent Street, London from 8.30pm. Details: here.
Thursday 27 November 2025 — The Backlot Cinema & Diner in Blackpool, Lancashire. Details: here.
Saturday 6 December 2025 — The Chiswick Cinema, London from 2.15pm. Details: here.
Friday 10 December 2025 — Close-up Cinema in Sclater Street, Tower Hamlets, London from 11:30am. Details: here.
Saturday 24 January 2026 — SOLD OUT! The Blue Walnut Cafe Bar & Cinema, Torquay, Devon from 6pm. Get your tickets Here.
Wednesday 11 February 2026 — SOLD OUT! Everyman Cinema, Plymouth, Devon from 8:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Friday 13 February 2026 — Ashburton Arts Centre, Ashburton, Devon from 7pm. Get your tickets Here.
Friday 6 March 2026 — Saltash Studios, Saltash, Cornwall from 7:30pm. Get your tickets Here
Sunday 15 March 2026 — The Guildford Institute (Assembly Room), Guildford, Surrey from 10:15am. Under the ‘Able and Adapting’ programme. Get your tickets Here.
Wednesday 18 March 2026 — SOLD OUT! Everyman Cinema, Plymouth, Devon from 8:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Tuesday 24 March 2026 — The Watermark, Ivybridge, Devon from 7:00pm. Get your tickets Here.
Thursday 26 March 2026 — The Black Swan Pub, Leeds, from 7:00pm
Friday 3 April 2026 — The Ladder (Eyes Peeled Film Club), Redruth, Cornwall, from 6:00pm. Get your tickets Here.
Saturday 11 April 2026 — The Studio (Quarry Theatre), Bedford, Bedfordshire, from 12:00pm. Get your tickets Here.
Sunday 3 May 2026 — Wolverhampton Film Festival (Slot Seven), Wolverhampton, West Midlands, from 1pm. Get your tickets Here.
Wednesday 6 May 2026 — Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London, from 6:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Thursday 7 May 2026 — The Cavendish Hotel, Eastbourne, East Sussex, from 12pm. Get your tickets Here.
Friday 15 May 2026 — Linslade Mews (Buzz Cinema), Leighton Buzzard, Beds, from 8pm. Get your tickets Here.
Monday 18 May 2026 — British International Amateur Film Festival, Online, from 7pm
Friday 15 May 2026 — Linslade Mews (Buzz Cinema), Leighton Buzzard, Beds, from 8pm. Get your tickets Here.
Thursday 21 May 2026 — Everyman Bristol, Bristol, from 8:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Friday 22 May 2026 — Lumiere Cinema, Romford, London, from 11:00am (Screen 7). Get your tickets Here.
Wednesday 3 June 2026 — Everyman Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, from 8:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Sunday 7 June 2026 — Rose Theatre, Kingston Upon Thames, London, from 4:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Fri 10 to 21 June 2026 — Brighton Rocks Film Festival (Online Exhibition) from 11am. Get access here.
Tuesday 28th July 2027 – Alder Bar (Kelham Island Film Club), Sheffield, Yorkshire, from 7:30pm. Get your tickets Here.
Saturday 15 August 2026 — St Roberts Catholic Club (The White Rose International Film Festival), Harrogate, North Yorkshire, from 12pm. Get your tickets Here.
Friday 21 August 2026 — Marina Lounge (Sunrise FF, ‘Rewound’ Programme), Lowestoft, Suffolk, from 11am. Get your tickets Here.
Sunday 23 August 2026 — MK Gallary (Sunday Vibe Room), Milton Keynes, Bucks, from 10am . Get your tickets Here.
For Screening Bookings, to request a Screener please contact at whatiswfilm@gmail.com
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