|
2019 Theatrical Release in 65+ Cities |
100% Critic Score
|
Click to read article in NYTimes.
|
4.2k likes on Facebook | 1.2k followers on Twitter | 1.4k followers on Instagram
|
"A FASCINATING GLIMPSE
AT THE EMERGENCE OF A PHENOMENON" |
"IMPORTANT AND ELECTRIFYING"
|
|
|
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED . . . a comprehensive you-are-there recount of an unbelievable chapter in music history, made possible by the very facets that define punk rock."
|
"A historical record of this short-lived time and this singularly L.A. scene... pure to the punk ethos." 
|
“An abundance of bracing home videos, photographs, and eye-witness accounts,” 
|
"A nostalgic but still fascinating look into the Los Angeles punk music scene in the mid-1980s... recommend it for collections in popular music, performing arts, 20th-century U.S. social movements, and California regional studies."
- EMRO
- EMRO
|
Stuart Swezey began his creative career organizing the Desolation Center events. He is a founder of the influential extreme information bookstore, sourcebook and publishing house Amok Books. His book Amok Fifth Dispatch: Sourcebook of Extremes of Information was nominated for the Best Nonfiction Book Title in the Firecracker Alternative Book awards. Swezey produced the acclaimed documentary Better Living Through Circuitry about rave and DJ culture and has worked as a cable television development executive (Ice Road Truckers, Black Gold), producer, and show runner.
|
|
Add DESOLATION CENTER To Your Library Collection Below!
|
Desolation Center
Directed by Stuart Swezey
Run time: 94 min Public Performance Rights Licensing:
Starting at $299 Organizations & institutions please contact info@passionriver.com today for a quote Synopsis:
Desolation Center is the previously untold story of a series of early 80s guerrilla music and art performance happenings in Southern California that are recognized to have inspired Burning Man, Lollapalooza and Coachella, collective experiences that have become key elements of popular culture in the 21st century. |
The feature documentary splices interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic and more, documenting a time when pushing the boundaries of music, art, and performance felt almost like an unspoken obligation.
Directed by Stuart Swezey, the creator and principal organizer of these unique events, Desolation Center demonstrates how the risky, and at times even reckless, actions of a few outsiders can unintentionally lead to seismic cultural shifts.
Combining Swezey’s exclusive access to never-before-seen archival video, live audio recordings, and stills woven together with new cinematically shot interviews, verité footage and animated sequences, Desolation Center captures the spirit of the turbulent times from which these events emerged.
Directed by Stuart Swezey, the creator and principal organizer of these unique events, Desolation Center demonstrates how the risky, and at times even reckless, actions of a few outsiders can unintentionally lead to seismic cultural shifts.
Combining Swezey’s exclusive access to never-before-seen archival video, live audio recordings, and stills woven together with new cinematically shot interviews, verité footage and animated sequences, Desolation Center captures the spirit of the turbulent times from which these events emerged.
