by Colleen Smith Armstrong
Editor/Publisher
It’s a film that brings together presidents, diplomats, spies and musicians from the West and the Soviet Union to talk about how rock and roll contributed in ending the Cold War.
There will be a special viewing of the documentary “Free to Rock” on Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Sea View Theatre.
“This is such an important and must see film,” said organizer Donna Laslo.
The movie starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $10 at the door or in advance at http://freetorock.brownpapertickets.com. All proceeds from the showing will go to the Orcas Island Film Festival.
After the showing, there will be a panel discussion with producer Nick Binkley, Joanna Stingray (who is featured in the film) and Valery Saifudinov, one of the first Soviet rockers.
“Free to Rock” was one of the selections shown at the 2015 Orcas Island Film Festival. It is being brought back to the island for a special viewing because of its popularity. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is featuring the film at its exhibit “Rock and Politics.”
Ten years in the making, the documentary is directed by four-time Emmy winning filmmaker Jim Brown and narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. It tells the story of how rock and roll spread like a virus across the Soviet Union despite Communist attempts to outlaw it. Thousands of underground bands and millions of young fans who yearned for Western freedoms helped fuel the nonviolent implosion of the Soviet regime.
Rock and roll sounded the “chimes of freedom” in the hearts and minds of Iron Curtain youth. Inspiring its youth to demand freedom to listen, play and record rock music, to enjoy basic human rights and freedom from oppressive communist rule.
The story follows the key political, musical and activist players in this real-life drama as the KGB cracked down hard with arrests, beatings, death threats and imprisonment. Thousands of underground rock bands with millions of passionate supporters inspire dand fueled independence movements that eventually cause the Soviet communist system to implode without blood shed or civil war.
Interviews and performance subjects include: Presidents Carter, Gorbachev and Vike-Freiberga, NATO Deputy Secretary General Vershbow, KGB General Kalugin, diplomats, historians and journalists, along with Elvis Presley, Beatles, Billy Joel, Metallica, Scorpions, Beach Boys, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the WALL in Berlin concert; plus the Iron Curtain rockers who braved the long struggle with the Kremlin and KGB.
The film is produced in collaboration with the Grammy Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Stas Namin Center of Moscow, with support from the U.S. Government’s National Endowment of the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, both U.S. Government arts agencies.
About the film festival
Slated for Oct. 7 to 10, 2016, the film festival offers a selection of short and feature length films from around the world curated by Carl Spence, Artistic Director for the Seattle International Film Festival.
“Five of our films from this year are nominated for Academy Awards. One of our films, ‘Room,’ is nominated for three Academy awards! This speaks volumes of the kind of quality films were are getting thanks to Carl Spence. Looking forward to this years’ festival,” said Laslo, who is also a producer of the festival.
