The Art of Dissent

"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.

• James Le SueurDirector
• James Le SueurWriter

• Timothy Garton AshSelf - Interviewee
• Joan BakewellBBC Interviewer - BBC Archival Film
• Shirley BasseySelf - Subject (archive footage)
• Kamila BendovaSelf - Interviewee
• Mikhail GorbachevSelf - Subject (archive footage)
• Tenzin GyatsoSelf - Subject (archive footage)
• Robert F. KennedySelf - Subject (archive footage)
• Martin Luther King Jr.Self - Subject (archive footage)
• Frank ZappaSelf - Subject (archive footage)