At the end of the 1980s, club scenes characterized by electronic house and techno sounds reached a critical mass. At the same time, all socialist governments in Central and Eastern Europe fell; there was initially a spirit of optimism and hope for more freedom and democracy. Techno in particular became the soundtrack to political and social change. As a contribution to the Day of Club Culture 2024, Soundwatch presents films and sounds from the early post-socialist party scene and reflects on their echoes today.

German premiere

Rave OmeU PL 2024 76 min Directors: Łukasz Ronduda, Dawid Nickel

With little-seen archive footage of parties and art happenings, the film tells the story of the development of rave music and subculture in Poland. Two young ravers guide us through this world: Marysia and Janusz, as well as Marcello Zamenhoff - a performance artist and one of the pioneers of Polish rave. A fundamental question for the protagonists is how the young generation can overcome the classism in the Polish techno scene, which has been pronounced since its beginnings in the 90s.

ŁUKASZ RONDUDA is a feature film director and curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. His films explore unusual forms of representing art and artistic processes. His debut PERFORMER won the “Think:Film Award” at the Berlin International Film Festival. RAVE builds upon the exhibition “140 Beats per Minute” which he curated about techno culture and art in Poland in the 1990s.

DAWID NICKEL focuses on telling stories against stereotypes of sexual orientation or social status. His feature debut LOVE TASTING was awarded the main prize in the micro-budget section at the Polish Film Festival. In 2023, his latest productions premiered: FILIPKA, a short documentary about his queer and gender-fluid friend, and the high-end TV series for HBO Max, #BRING BACK ALICE.

Followed by Club Sounds East lounge in the lobby and videos in the cinema.

Guest Film talk: Gregor Rozanski (Wixapol Collective)

DJ Set after screening: Zambon (The Very Polish Cut Outs) 

Soundwatch started as a music film festival in Berlin in 2017 and evolved into a project space devoted to presenting various forms of interaction between music and moving image. In addition to an annual film festival (in November) we have regular one-off events with music documentaries, live performances, DJ sets, and screenings of music-related experimental film and media art. Exploring the historical and social dimensions of club culture through films has been a regular feature as is a particular interest in sub- and underground culture in Central and Eastern Europe from the 1960s to the present day.