Anarchy at the cinema

The Sex Pistols only did one tour in the United States, and by the end of it they had had enough and singer Johnny Rotten slammed the door behind them. That was in 1978 and the naturally destructive punk movement had reached a turning point. It was the kind of apogee that you know is going nowhere but downhill. In the documentary D.O.A. (“Dead On Arrival”), Polish director Lech Kowalski witnessed one of the most turbulent tours in rock history with his hand-held camera. Not without reason, he referred to punk as “the last idealistic vision, a beautiful romantic image of a world at war.” It is one of the documentaries that Cinema Nova is screening over four consecutive weekends with the title Punk’s Not Deaf! The rest of the programme does not focus on big names, but more on the culture and attitude behind the movement. For example, in The Boot Factory, the same Kowalski shadows Polish punks who transform a squat into a studio where they organise combat shows. Noise & Resistance zooms in on the DIY scene in Europe and East Punk Memories discusses the punk movement before and after the fall of communism. A separate section is devoted to the oeuvre of the politically engaged English punk band Crass. In the cellar, a number of artists from the contemporary punk scene are exhibiting their work in a “PunXpo”.

The opening night will end with a performance by the Arsène Lupunk Trio. What is more, in conjunction with the punk weekends, the same cinema is screening a film cycle about how filmmakers depict politics.

Punk’s Not Deaf! 14/9 > 14/10, Cinéma Nova, rue d’Arenbergstraat 14, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-511.24.77, nova@nova-cinema.org, www.nova-cinema.org