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As a young man in 1979, Anton was an ambitious young photographer, who moved to England to try and work with his heroes, Joy Division. Two weeks later, he had taken a shot which would become one of the most iconic images of the band.

25 years on, he announced his intention to make the film at the Radisson hotel in Manchester, which, in a previous incarnation, had housed the Sex Pistols gig that inspired Joy Division to take up their guitars in earnest.

The cast as Joy Division in Control

In-between the two events, he forged a career as one of the world’s most respected photographer. As a result, he looks like the obvious choice to be in charge of the film, though he insists it wasn’t planned, explaining that the project happened "organically".

"I did a lot of music videos in the 80s and 90s, I did stage design and graphic design. So I’ve always been interested in expanding my visual boundaries, and that includes film.

"I’ve read a lot of film scripts over the years but I’ve never felt comfortable enough to jump on one of those projects, abandon everything else and think that I could make a film better than a skilled worker, which I’m not.

"When this film came around, I was hesitant because I was afraid it would be labelled a rock film, I decided to do it because it had so much to do with my life and the connection was one of emotion. That emotion could compensate for any lack of skills I might have.

Ian (Sam Riley) + Debbie (Samantha Morton)

"It’s interesting because I think life has cycles of 25 years, when you can look back at something and approach things more objectively. It happened also with New Order, because they’ve only played Joy Division songs for the last few years; before that they couldn’t touch it either."

Inside a shadowplay

Interestingly, despite creating one of the most famous pictures of Ian back in 1979, Anton says that the pair weren’t close, which allowed him a certain amount of clarity when he came to make Control.

"It’s only when I watched it for the first time that I got emotional. It sounds weird, but I think you put a different hat on when you’re working.

Memories may become hazy and people change – as Anton puts it, "I’m not a 24 year old boy any more who moves countries because he loves music so much" – but one thing hasn’t altered over the decades – the director’s love of the music.

"On this film, I listened to Joy Division’s music hundreds of times and it only gets better. It is absolutely amazing and I like it maybe even more than before, though some of the mystery of it is gone.

"When I lived in Holland, I’d get this record from abroad with this incredible sleeve, there was a mystery to it, and that is not there now. But the quality remains.

"When you do music videos, you listen to a song a lot of times and you can get to a point of thinking 'ok, I’m through it', but with this, it never happened. It just got more pleasant to listen to."

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