Asian / Desi Community - Raindance Festival Asian Films 2004

A combination of a music and social documentary, MUTINY: Asians Storm British Music takes an engaging look at the meteoric rise of Asian music in 1990s Britain. Shot independently on digital video over the course of seven years, MUTINY features Asian Dub Foundation, Talvin Singh, Fun^Da^Mental and a range of other British musicians of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi descent, presenting these artists and their music with a striking intimacy.

Through its dynamic mix of live performances, candid interviews and seldom seen archival footage, MUTINY presents the story of a generation that grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and defining itself in an environment of racial violence while drawing strength from both British street culture and South Asian roots. The artists who emerged from this generation became some of the greatest innovators in British music, mixing the influences of their parents' cultures with electronica, hip-hop, reggae and punk and producing unique and powerful new sounds.

MUTINY follows these musicians from their early forays in music and activism through their negotiation of record deals and press attention during the "Asian Underground" hype of the mid 1990s, to dealing with the loss of industry backing by the end of the decade. MUTINY'S artists are undeterred, pushing forward their music and laying the foundation for the next generation. Outspoken and uncompromising, they remain in command throughout this fast paced and uplifting feature.

Vivek Bald, Director and Producer

Vivek Bald is a New York based filmmaker and music producer. His previous documentary, Taxi-vala/Auto-biography, chronicled the lives, experiences and political activism of South Asian immigrant taxi drivers in New York City. Taxi-vala premiered at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1994, was broadcast on New York's WNET-TV in 1996 and has screened at festivals and other venues throughout North America and in Australia and Japan. Producing and performing music under the name Siraiki, Bald is also co-founder of the groundbreaking Mutiny club night in New York City. The Mutiny club night has become an international hub on the South Asian electronica music scene, and has hosted many of the artists featured in Mutiny: Asians Storm British Music.

Mutiny: Asians Storm British Music is being screened at the Raindance Film Festival on October 2nd. For Further information and ticket requests please contact Click Here.