In June 2016, three young men—two musicians and one filmmaker—started a three-year jail sentence in Iran for distributing underground music that hadn’t been licensed by Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The police task force in charge of enforcing Islamic lifestyle ethics, which is known as the “morality police,” found them guilty of “insulting Islamic sanctities,” “spreading propaganda against the system” and committing “illegal audio-visual activities.” It’s the same fate that two Iranian DJs, Anoosh and Arash (aka Blade & Beard), could have faced for throwing small, illegal raves around Tehran for years before they left for Switzerland. Their adventures as Middle Eastern promoters, DJs and producers are now the subject of Raving Iran, a documentary created by German filmmaker Susanne Regina Meures. We give you the Antwerp Premiere of this must see document.
22:30 Doors Open
23:00 Raving Iran Screening
00:30 Support
01:30 Helena Hauff
04:00 Albert Van Abbe Live
05:00 FBQ
tickets 10 Euro Movie + Afterparty.
powered by Jägermeister free shots after the movie.
RAVING IRAN – THE MOVIE
Anoosh and Arash are at the center of Tehran’s underground techno scene. Tired of hiding from the police and their stagnating career, they organize one last manic techno rave under dangerous circumstances in the desert. Back in Tehran they try their luck selling their illegally printed music album without permission. When Anoosh is arrested, there seems to be no hope left. But then they receive a phone call from the biggest techno festival in the world. Once landed in Switzerland, the haze of the instant euphoria evaporates quickly when the seriousness of the situation starts to dawn on them.
HELENA HAUFF
Is a DJ and producer from Hamburg, Germany, where she runs a club night called Birds and Other Instruments at the Golden Pudel Club.�Helena’s sound as a DJ can’t be nailed down as she cuts between genres with ease. Dirty Acid, Chicago, Electro and Wave mixed in an obsessive way, as you can hear on Blackest Ever Black’s sub label Krokodilo Tapes, where she released a limited edition mix tape, ‘Obscure Object’.
As a producer this obsessive nature comes across in the intensity of her music. This can be seen in her releases that have been on Actress’s Werkdiscs imprint, and Bunker offshoot, Panzerkreuz. In addition, she is half of ‘Black Sites’ along with F#X, who have also seen a release on Panzerkreuz as well as PAN. She recently came into the Resident Advisors reader poll top 100 on the 31st position.
https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/helenahauff
ALBERT VAN ABBE LIVE
Albert van Abbe started making music and performing live in 2001 but when listening to his work, there are certain elements that rather makes you think of 1901. Melancholic whispers of Stravinsky, Ravel or Schönberg, reduced and concentrated to rhythmical and melodic patterns, sometimes breaking free of the constraints set by arpeggiators or sequencers. Perhaps this otherly, nonconformist way of thinking and doing music is most evident in van Abbe’s live performances, and he is in fact one of the very few Dutch techno live acts having performed Berghain, Awakenings & ADE just to name a few.
But there’s something else that sets him apart from the vast majority of his contemporary techno colleagues, something that’s harder to pin down. There’s so much electronic music these days that is either intentionally underproduced; grimy, harsh and simplistic, or overproduced; tumescent, hyper-compressed and dense. Albert van Abbe’s music is distinctively neither. There is always air in his productions; infinite skies, passing clouds, thin vapour rising from open fields… visions of mountain tops or endless tree crowns half covered in mist. There is always place for you within his music to fill your lungs to the brim with this cleansing air. A feeling of unrestrained, reflecting Albert van Abbe’s own recalcitrant and anti-authoritative personality. To put it simple: It’s music with a view.
Besides performing, producing music and DJing, Albert van Abbe also currently operates two record labels, No Comment and VANABBE. He has also released music on Semantica, Deep Sound Channel, Trolldans, ESHU & Curle.