by Andrea Zambelli
Italia, 2011, 72'
Rossofuoco (Torino)
Tekno is a film about teknivals, self-managed meetings where “tribes” of young people gather in abandoned industrial areas or in wild natural settings to dance at the ryhthm of electronic music. Formerly a western european phenomenon, teknival are now particularly popular in East Europe. The film follows a group of people moving with caravans and sound systems throughout the continent for more than a year like gypsies of the 20th century.
"I started going to Teknivals about 10 years ago when the movement was spreading to Western Europe after its founders were kicked out of Great Britain around the mid-nineties following the Criminal Justice Act.
At the same time I took my first steps in documentary film-making. I always took a video-camera with me on my travels to Eastern Europe, not with the idea of filming a documentary but just to document the movement and to use it as a deterrent against abuse from the police.
The Tekno scene in Western Europe has changed over time into an alternative to nightclubs and a free zone for illegal drugs, I felt the need to talk about the spirit which pervaded the first parties and that can still be found following the caravans seeking new spaces eastward.
In the meantime my filmic language has matured going from instinctive reporter work to an awareness of the art of storytelling with images."
Andrea Zambelli