New documentary exploring the UK’s ‘90s free party movement to be released
Free Party: A Folk History is set to be premiered at the end of the month
A new documentary chronicling the UK’s free party movement through the '90s is set to be premiered at the end of May.
Free Party: A Folk History looks at the “untold story of how rave culture shook the system and sparked a global revolution”, per a press release, with interviews from key figures in the scene.
The documentary features interviews with, and footage from, Spiral Tribe, DiY Sound System, Bedlam, Circus Warp, Colin Dale, and more.
It was first announced with a crowdfunding campaign in 2021, and is now approaching release.
Read this next: East Anglian ravers needed for new research project highlighting the scene’s “hidden history”
Directed by Aaron Trinder, the documentary explores everything from the infamous Castlemorton free party of 1992 to the enactment of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994.
“This film is a unique look at a much-underrepresented moment in cultural history,” says Trinder. “With new laws criminalising trespass and protest across Europe, the story is more relevant than ever.”
“It was the last great unifying youth movement before the digital age, one that challenged the authorities, connected environmental awareness with music, and questioned laws on land rights and trespass,” he said.
Free Party: A Folk History also looks back to the government’s crackdown on unlicensed events following the Second Summer of Love, with “first hand accounts” of those who experienced it.
Read this next: Music equipment seized and arrests made at 2,500-person illegal rave near Chichester
Speaking on the documentary, Spiral Tribe co-founder Mark Angelo Harrison said: “This documentary uncovers the untold story of one of the UK’s most outlawed cultural movements.”
“The British establishment buries people’s history, celebrating the powerful while criminalising grassroots movements — just as it did with the Free Festival and Free Party scenes.”
After being screened at film festivals, Free Party: A Folk History will be streamed publicly for the first time on Friday, May 30. Grab tickets here.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter
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