In 2004, I was approached by Matthew Glammore to film Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World in the Hippodrome in Leicester Square. I immediately said yes, recalling the bizarre films I’d seen of the Show on Channel 4 in the mid 80s.

I met Andrew at his extraordinary “Glasshouse in the sky” full of his dazzling mirror sculptures. He is charming, enthusiastic and cheerful, and as eccentric as anyone I have ever met. When I saw Andrew’s work, I could immediately see the potential for animation. Logan’s exuberance and joyous amateurishness gives him the ability to transform anything. And he has, throughout his life, encouraged others to do the same – to enhance and adorn any object or part of life giving your imagination free reign…

Initially it appears that Logan and his great Show is surrounded by an ersatz family of celebrities and “the glitterati” – with characters from 40 years of UK arts and culture. But also Logan’s own family plays a central part in the Show and in his life – his sister, Janet, has been in every one. His brothers Quentin, Richard and Peter (himself a recognised sculptor) have participated, stage managed, and musically directed. Up until their deaths a few years ago, his mother and father were often judges of the Show. This familial support gives Logan a very down to earth outlook despite being surrounded by all the fabulous glam. People of all backgrounds are drawn to Logan because of his all welcoming inclusivity, his playfulness, and his urge to transform the here and now.

There has never been a documentary about Andrew Logan. And there has never been a documentary which defines the Alternative Miss World Show as Logan’s most extraordinary work of art. Logan talks of each Show as a sculpture, and the whole history of the event as a sculpture in time, moulding itself around his life since the 70s. The Show is a great party, but it’s also a home and a haven for subculture, counterculture, and anything that doesn’t find expression in the mainstream. Andrew insists that the Show is unrehearsed and uncensored, which protects it from becoming a corporate or money-making event.

I think there is something deeper in the Show that speaks to the outsider inside us all. Many people talk of their experiences with Logan and the show as having changed or transformed their life. In 2004, I watched as Norman Rosenthal of the Royal Academy – by day feared and respected – transform himself into Miss Derek Jarman Blue in a blue body stocking with a long pink crest, sticking out his tongue like a lizard. Now he can’t wait until the next one. I realise that the only way to truly experience the dull effect and perhaps have a life transformation is to enter the Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World show as a contestant. But will we be transformed by spending time with Andrew and taking part in the Show?

Jes Benstock, Director