A film about the first Laibach album officially released in Yugoslavia. The record came out despite the political ban that was in place on the band’s name at the time, in 1985 – but without the name or a title. A black cross on the cover was enough.
The LP film concentrates on the first five crucial years of these self-proclaimed "engineers of human souls" by investigating the background to their first LP and the inspirations of its co-creators, including deceased frontman Tomaž Hostnik (1961–1982). Combining the testimonies of members of the band, their colleagues and contemporaries with archival footage and other relics, the film reveals the strategies and tactics of Laibach and Laibach Kunst in the first half of the 1980s— their vision and wit, their breakthrough from the Iron Curtain, and their "occupation of Europe"—and leads the viewer beyond the group's monumental mythology to more intimate, until now unheard stories. The main focus remains the albulm itself and its songs: Dear Friends; Force; In The Midst of Combat; The State; The Decree; We Are Forging The Future; My Brother; and Panorama—all of which represent the foundation of Laibach’s opus.
Director: Igor Zupe // Scriptwriters: Igor Bašin, Igor Zupe // Cinematographer: Nejc Saje // Film editing: Lukas Miheljak // Music: Laibach // Sound recordist: Matjaž Moraus Zdešar // Producer: Viva Videnović // Production: Nord Cross Production // Co-production: Strup, Tevefon, RTVS // Financial support: Slovenian Film Center // Cast: members of the Laibach group (Dejan Knez, Ivan Novak, Andrej Lupinc, Marjan Benčina, Milan Fras), Mladen Dolar, Igor Vidmar (ŠKUC Ropot), Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Iain McNay (Cherry Red Records), Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg (Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien), Fritz Catlin (Last Few Days, 23 Skidoo), Marjan Hostnik, Aldo Ivančić (Borghesia), Dragan Živadinov, Roman Uranjek, Uroš Zupan, Lado Jakša, Tone Dimnik, Neven Smolčič, Denis Dautović and others // Distribution : Nord Cross Production
Slovenia / 2018 / 52 min
In collaboration with Kinodvor.
