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Devo (dir: Chris Smith)

Part of CINECITY film festival

USA 2024. 93 mins.

Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (Wham!, Fyre) captures the gloriously radical spirit of Devo – a rare band founded by a philosophy; a Dada experiment of high art meets low, hellbent on infiltrating American popular culture. Using never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale, Devo relishes in the highs, lows, surreal moments and incredible performances of a 50-year career, embracing the spectacle of the band from their lo-fi beginnings to pioneers of the MTVmusic video.

Band members are open with their memories and archives, charting their origins as Kent State University arts students shaped by the activism of the late 1960s. Following the 1970 massacre on their campus, the band’s concept of cultural ‘De-Evolution’ turned from satirical humour to urgent social commentary, and what would go on to warn of, comment on and reflect back the absurdism of the late 20th century.