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  • Free to Rock (2017)
  • 61 min | Documentary, History, Music
Free to Rock (2017)
61 min | Documentary, History, Music

FREE TO ROCK is a 60 minute documentary film directed by 4 time Emmy winning filmmaker Jim Brown and narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. Ten years in the making, the film explores the soft power of Rock & Roll to affect social change behind the...See moreFREE TO ROCK is a 60 minute documentary film directed by 4 time Emmy winning filmmaker Jim Brown and narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. Ten years in the making, the film explores the soft power of Rock & Roll to affect social change behind the Iron Curtain between the years 1955 and 1991, and how it contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and to ending the Cold War. Rock & Roll sounded the "chimes of freedom" in the hearts and minds of Iron Curtain youth. Inspiring its youth to demand freedom to listen, play and record rock music, to enjoy basic human rights and freedom from oppressive communist rule. The story follows the key political, musical and activist players in this real-life drama as the KGB cracked down hard with arrests, beatings, death threats and imprisonment. Thousands of underground rock bands with millions of passionate supporters inspire and fuel independence movements that eventually cause the Soviet communist system to implode without blood shed or civil war. Interviews and performance subjects include: Presidents Carter, Gorbachev and Vike-Freiberga, NATO Deputy Secretary General Vershbow, KGB General Kalugin, diplomats, historians and journalists, along with Elvis Presley, Beatles, Billy Joel, Metallica, Scorpions, Beach Boys, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the WALL in Berlin concert; plus the Iron Curtain rockers who braved the long struggle with the Kremlin and KGB. The film is produced in collaboration with the Grammy Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Stas Namin Center of Moscow, with support from the U.S. Government's National Endowment of the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, both US Government arts agencies. See less
Read more: Plot summary
Director
Writers
Nick Binkley (creator) (original story) | Jim Brown (creator) | Stas Namin (creator) | Valery Saifudinov (original story) | Douglas Yeager (original story)
Editors
Pat Murphy | Paul Petrissans (as Paul Pettrisans) | Jason Pollard
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Nov 5, 2017

Release date
May 1, 2017 (United States)

Contacts

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Cast

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48 cast members
Name Known for
Kiefer Sutherland
Narrator (voice) Narrator (voice)   See fewer
Tsvety
Themselves (as The Flowers) Themselves (as The Flowers)   See fewer
Elvis Presley
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Robert Santelli
Self - executive director of Grammy Museum (as Bob Santelli) Self - executive director of Grammy Museum (as Bob Santelli)   See fewer
Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Self - former president of Latvia Self - former president of Latvia   See fewer
Ojars Eriks Kalnins
Self (as Ojars Kalnins) Self (as Ojars Kalnins)   See fewer
The Beatles
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
The Beach Boys
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Dean Reed
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Timothy Ryback
Self - author of 'Rock around the Bloc: A History of Rock Music in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union' Self - author of 'Rock around the Bloc: A History of Rock Music in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union'   See fewer
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Elton John
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Kino
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Alisa
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Alexander Vershbow
Self - Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Self - Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia   See fewer
Ronald Reagan
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Bruce Springsteen
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Scorpions
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Cyndi Lauper
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
Metallica
Themselves (archive footage) Themselves (archive footage)   See fewer
Robert F. Kennedy
Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage)   See fewer
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