Screening & Q+A: Free Party: A Folk History
They wanted the freedom to party, the state saw them as the enemy within. The untold story of the free party movement, Castlemorton and the Criminal Justice Act, and how its impact sparked a revolution around the world, from raves and festivals, to politics and protest.
Free Party: A Folk History is a major new, independently made, feature documentary following the birth of the free party movement in the late 80s and early 90s and the impact it’s had on our present times. The film follows the inception of the movement, a meeting between ravers and the new age travellers during Thatcher’s last days in power, and the explosive years that followed, leading up the infamous Castlemorton free festival in 1992 – the largest ever illegal rave, which provoked the drastic change of the laws of trespass with the notorious introduction of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994.
The screening (1hr 44mins) will be followed by a Q+A with Director Aaron Trinder and contributor Alan Lodge, convened by Bonington Gallery Curator & Director Tom Godfrey.
The gallery will remain open 5-6pm for those wishing to visit Alan Lodge’s exhibition prior to the screening.
Content Warning: Film contains nudity, violence, substance use, smoking, foul language, Flashing lights and strobing patterns might affect photosensitive viewers. Viewers must be aged 16+.
More information about Free Party: A Folk Tale
www.freepartydoc.info
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29733449/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
Quote from Director Aaron Trinder:
“This film is a unique look at a much-underrepresented moment in cultural history, the last great unifying youth movement, before digital cameras and the internet, which really challenged the authorities, connected environmental awareness with music and questioned laws on land rights and trespass. Thematically it’s incredibly prescient to today, with new laws on trespass and protest being introduced, raving being huge amongst young people and exactly 30 years since the Criminal Justice Bill was introduced (in 1994). I’ve got incredible access to unseen archive and grass-roots stories very seldom heard from the people who lived it”.
Press links:
https://notagspodcast.substack.com/p/47-free-party-grace-sands https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jun/26/raves-from-the-grave-lost-90s-subculture-is-back-in- the-spotlight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bS5DyvRjpg
https://selector.news/2021/05/20/aaron-trinder-films-free-party-folk-history/ https://mixmag.net/read/documentary-90s-free-party–folk-history-news https://djmag.com/news/new-documentary-history-uk-s-free-party-movement-works
https://electro-news.eu/nouveau-documentaire-naissance-free-party-2021/?fbclid=IwAR0D-Goo6z- unjt3sy4AQE4NzSBJvT7ObxdLGZCJrMwNjFiZujuzP9YwGGE
https://fourfourmag.com/free-party-a-documentary-kickstarter-project/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xsns
Recent screenings & festivals:
CPH DOX COPENHAGEN, DOC N ROLL FILM FEST UK, SEEYOUSOUND TURIN, MUSICAL ECRAN BORDEAUX, ROCK THIS TOWN PAU, FRANCE, IN-EDIT BARCELONA, ELECTRONIC MUSIC MALTA, BERLIN DOKUMENTALE, BERLIN SOUNDWATCH, PORTO POST / DOC, WAY OUT WEST GOTHENBURG, TRONDHEIM NORWAY, BEATS MELBOURNE
(WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD DOC N ROLL FILM FESTIVAL, WINNER JURY HONORABLE MENTION DOC N ROLL FILM FESTIVAL, NOMINATED BEST FILM MUSICAL ECRAN, ROCK THIS TOWN winner Portobello Film Festival best music doc)
Production team:
Aaron Trinder (Director), Kate Allan (producer), Lush Kumar (producer), Jez Lewis (Exec Producer), Justi Echelles (producer), Andrew Gaston, Nick Evans, Aaron Trinder (Editor)