Liberation Day

Director: Ugis Olte, Morten Traavik

Country: Norway

Running Time: 100′

London Premiere

Year: 2017

A truly jaw-dropping experience, Liberation Day is the story of an encounter between Slovenian art rock behemoths Laibach and the totalitarian state of North Korea.

Morten Traavik, a Norwegian artist and theatre director, finds himself in the position to make history, when he is offered the chance to bring a Western rock band to play in Pyongyang for the first time. Laibach have made their name through mounting a bombastic reinterpretation of The Sound of Music (a film that’s bizarrely both legal and hugely popular in the ‘Democratic’ People’s Republic) and the ironic use of totalitarian imagery. As such, they seem like the perfect fit for the country’s celebrations surrounding the 70th anniversary of their independence from Japan. Or are they a Trojan Horse? A sensational case of Western intervention, all the more incredible for being true.

Screening in partnership with Mute Records