Beats of Freedom movie to be screened at Institut Francais

Newsroom 06/03/2013 | 14:47

Beats of Freedom tells the story of rock music during the Communist era in the People’s Republic of Poland through the eyes of Chris Salewicz, a British journalist of Polish heritage. It’s a film about 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.

Directed by Leszek Gnoiński and Wojciech Słota, the film is the first installment in the Guide to the Poles series. The narrative traces several plots, beginning with Chris Salewicz’s meeting with three individuals who were essential to the burgeoning rock music scene. Tomek Lipiński, frontman for the groups ‘Tilt’ and ‘Brygada Kryzys‘, manager and journalist Piotr Nagłowski, and photographer and historian Mirek Makowski. The three recounted their stories about the meaning behind the music of those times, along with descriptions of what Poland was like life for the everyday man – all against the background of the history of the past half century. Interviews and archive materials compose a broad vision of the Polish struggle for political, social and individual freedoms.

It turned out that the ‘Iron Curtain’ wasn’t quite as impenetrable as the authorities would have hoped and a number of major acts new to the international scene made their way over from the west. Legendary bands took the stage in Warsaw and Jarocin, such as The Rolling Stones, who played two concerts in April 1967 at the Palace of Culture’s Congressional Hall – an event that became fixed in the collective musical memory for many decades following.

The venue itself – an unwelcome gift from the Soviet Union – was inscribed into Rock-n-Roll folklore, taking on a more favourable aspect as its negative associations were counterbalanced by symbols of a subtly shifting reality. The venue also served as the setting for the official premiere of the film on March 11, 2010, which followed several months of screenings in Poland and around the world. It continued to be shown at various festivals through the end of 2010 across Europe and the United States.

The film is part of the Guide to the Poles series of documentary films produced within the framework of the International Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council in 2011. Beats of Freedom will be screened March 7, starting hour 21.00, at Institut Francais (77 Dacia Blvd.).

Oana Vasiliu

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