21-01-2014, 01:10 PM
Just came across this the other day from some one who was part of it and delighted to find it online. I have known quite a few people who have participated in these festivals over the years in various countries. This one is particularly interesting because of the year and the participants and that some one made a movie of it. Pretty sure no one in the west wanted to distribute it so I doubt most people here have seen it but there is some great historical and archival footage contemporary and earlier. Angela Davis newly released from prison and speaking in German at the university in which she had done her PhD. Yasser Arafat, Eric Honnecker, big French contingent with the student riots just a few years before, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian freedom fighters welcomed by the crowds, women cosmonauts, Africans sing and dancing in solidarity, Chileans, Colombians and Puerto Ricans too. Particularly poignant because already the Chileans knew the coup was imminent. Inti Illimani who sing some songs in part 2 this film next went to Italy where they have lived ever since as they could not return home. Amazing and interesting and beautiful faces in the crowds from all over the world. Rock and roll and jeans and and long hair all of which the west says was banned. Canoodling in the park which is universal.