A crowdfunding campaign was launched on Monday for a new film on early ’90s U.K. free parties titled Free Party: A Folk History. In less than two days it met its goal of £12,497, and now it has surpassed its stretch goal of £16,000.
A project by DJ, producer and filmmaker Aaron Trinder of Trinder Films, the documentary will chronicle the explosion of free-to-all gatherings in the early ’90s. In the context of the country’s post-recession unemployment surge and the commercialization of the subsequent acid house era, it tells the stories of party crews like DiY Soundsystem, Sugarlump, Spiral Tribe, Circus Warp and Bedlam as well as lawmaker pushback on their activity.
Trinder has thus far recorded interviews with Chris Liberator, Colin Dale, Charlie Hall and Yout, with summer plans to pursue others now that the budget permits.
“Free Party is a documentary film charting the free party movement’s birth, its rapid rise and how the state tried to crush it, from the people who lived it and the legacy it leaves in the present day all across the world,” reads a description.
It continues: “The film is a unique look at how a pre-internet radical unifying youth culture exploded entirely through word of mouth and outside of the commercial mainstream and how that creative and radical energy is still making ripples in our challenging times. ”
Having met the first stretch goal, Trinder Films will be able to shoot for an another three days at historic free party sites throughout the Southwest U.K. At the time of writing, the campaign sits at over £17,200; if it exceeds £20,000 the studio will be able to hire another editor and graphic designer for four days to speed up post-production.
Donate to the crowdfunding campaign for Free Party: A Folk History and find a full list of stretch goals via Kickstarter.
