Do You Own The Dancefloor? – a documentary about the Hacienda auction

‘Do you own the Dancefloor?’ tells what happened when the legendary Manchester nightclub the Haçienda was knocked down and sold off.

In November 2000, many of the key elements from the iconic venue ended up as 69 lots at a charity auction before it was demolished to make way for a block of apartments.

It resulted in parts of the nightclub - the epicenter of Manchester’s pop culture in the 1980s and 1990s – being scattered across the world.

As well as the auction, the film tracks down what happened to the parts of the club itself, whose famous industrial design by interiors guru Ben Kelly included motorway cat’s eyes, traffic bollards and hazard signs.

The documentary isn’t just about the Haçienda. It’s also about the people so affected by their times there, that they had to come to Manchester to bid for bricks, toilets, exit signs and even pieces of the hallowed dance floor – and also about where those mementos are now.

The interviewees include Hacienda DJs Graeme Park and Mike Pickering, Liam Gallagher of Oasis and Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order.

The 90-minute film is the debut documentary by Shiny Brick Films, in a collaboration with Edinburgh production company Heehaw.

Director and Producer Chris Hughes, from Bolton, attended the auction and bought a piece of the dancefloor.

He has made the film with a collective of professionals from the film and TV industry working for free to tell the story of how the Hacienda lives on, not only in music and memory, but in its former clubbers’ homes, offices and gardens.

Chris says:

“I love hearing about people who are passionate about anything, they’re the most interesting kind of people. And people who own parts of the Hacienda…I’ve found have such great stories to tell, that they tell with such passion.

“After the first interview we just wanted to meet more and more of them to hear why they felt they wanted to own part of a nightclub.”

“I’ve had messages and photos from people from all over the world who have items….Australia, Miami, Montreal, London, Vancouver.

All profits from the film will be donated to Cancer Research and Kidneys for Life