Walking in the Opposite Direction

"I Can't Escape Myself" is one of the songs written by Adrian Borland (1957-1999) that have, in retrospect, become more meaningful. The British singer-songwriter suffered from depression and schizoaffective disorder; he committed suicide in 1999. Walking in the Opposite Direction – the title is taken from one of Borland's songs – tells the story of his life using rare archive material, interviews with former band members and music critics and discussions with his father and former girlfriends. Adrian Borland himself tells his version through the songs played in the film. Borland started his musical career in the punk trio The Outsiders, which in 1979 became part of The Sound, a post-punk band that enjoyed greater success but never really broke through to a mass audience. Their debut album Jeopardy (1980) is seen by many as a masterpiece, but from the early 1980s onward things started to go downhill. Borland went solo and lived and worked for years in the Netherlands and Germany. He returned to England in 1999 to work on what became his last album. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)