The Art of Dissent

Synopsis

"The Art of Dissent" celebrates the resilience and power of artistic engagement in Czechoslovakia before and after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion. The documentary's main protagonists - Václav Havel, banned singer Marta Kubisová, and the underground rock group the Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) - became the most recognizable dissidents during the 1970-80s. Havel bridged the disparate clusters of individuals and fused the literary, musical, political, and philosophical nonviolent elements into a hybrid network that eventually toppled the totalitarian regime in 1989.

Top cast

Timothy Garton Ash

Self - Interviewee

Joan Bakewell

BBC Interviewer - BBC Archival Film

Shirley Bassey

Self - Subject (archive footage)

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Kamila Bendova

Self - Interviewee

Mikhail Gorbachev