"Beats of Freedom", dir. Leszek Gnoiński, Wojciech Słota
Polish rock documentary "Beats of Freedom" is on the programme in the Music and Film Section (Cine y música) of the Distrital. Cine y otros Mundos film festival in Mexico
2011 marks the second edition of the film festival. While it is relatively new, the event has set up an ambitious goal of creating a platform beyond the screen for a dialogue between cinema and other worlds that make up visual arts. About 90 of the best local and international films and documentaries will be screened in the Mexican capital. The festival comprises three local cinema sections complemented by four international sections.
The music section "Cuadrante: Cine y música" brings together the power of music and film, to show how these two disciplines may join forces and exploit even higher on the screen (and beyond).
Beats of Freedom is screened among other international docs such as Who Took the Bomp? - Le Tigre on Tour directed by Kerthy Fix, High on Hope (UK, 2010) by Piers Sanderson(USA, 2010), Hit me with Music (Spain, Jamaica, 2011) by Spanish Miquel.
Poland's
Beats of Freedom, directed by Leszek Gnoiński and Wojciech Słota, tells the story of rock music during the Communist era in the People's Republic of Poland as seen through the eyes of Chris Salewicz, a British journalist of Polish roots. A captivating film about the birth of rock music in Poland. Music became an extremely powerful phenomenon. It's a film shows music as the sound that gave people a dose of freedom, about one of few aspects of everyday life that gave a bit of elbow room in an otherwise constrained society. It delves into the world of underground rock music of the '80s. Legends of the revolutionary Polish rock scene share their memories about music, life and paranoid censorship. The film stars Polish music legends including: Marek Niedźwiecki, Krzysztof Skiba, Jurek Owsiak, Kazik Staszewski (Kult), Muniek Staszczyk (T. Love), Kora Jackowska (Maanam) and Tomek Lipiński (Tilt and Brygada Kryzys).
The film was released in cinemas on March 11, 2010, it was also aired on TVN on December 13, 2010, which is the anniversary of martial law. Beats of Freedom was produced by the
Adam Mickiewicz Institute, screenplay and direction by: Leszek Gnoiński and Wojciech Słota.
For more information about the festival in Mexico City, "Distrital. Cine y otros Mundos", see:
http://distrital.mx/2011.