Punk the Capital:

Building a Sound Movement

Order Your Virtual Ticket Here! For more purchase options please go to the event schedule below.

• Premiere Events and In-Theater Shows
• Virtual Cinema Ticket Booth

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ARENA CINELOUNGE PRESENTS PUNK THE CAPITAL W/ SPECIAL SHOWS MAY 13-15, 2021

Thursday, May 13th at 8pm - SOLD OUT - Location: Cinelounge Drive-In
Franz Stahl and Pete Stahl and of the DC band Scream alongside curator/publisher Roger Gastman will present the film and be on hand for a Q&A. Before the feature, there will be a short film about Scream and their deep connections with the 1960's garage scene and the band The Hangmen.

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​Friday, May 14th at 7:15pm  - Location: Cinelounge Hollywood
Hudley Flipside, co-founder and preservationist of the essential Flipside Fanzine will present and discuss the film afterwards. This is a special night as the Flipside team had such deep ties with the DC scene and Hudley was there from the very beginning.

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Saturday, May 15th at 9:15pm - Location: Cinelounge Hollywood
Q&A w/ co-director James June Schneider

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For more information about the Special Shows in Los Angeles, visit the Arena Cinelounge website here.

The Roxie in San Francisco, CA
Showtimes: 6pm, May 23rd with Q&A / 6:45pm, May 29th

The screening on May 23rd will be followed by a Q&A with Chris Stover (Void), Nicky Thomas (Fire Party) and Lydia Ely (early DC scene), moderated by KXSF DJ extraordinaire, Carolyn Keddy!

The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA

​Friday, May 14th 6pm/8:30pm with Q&A

• Q&A with Punk the Capital co-director James June Schneider. A new short film about the legendary DC band Scream and their links to Washington DC's garage band scene of the '60s will play before the feature.

Saturday, May 15th 6pm with Q&A/8:30pm

• Q&A moderated by Ryan Donahue (formerly Big Wheel Magazine, Smeared in Ink) with Punk the Capital co-director James June Schneider

Sunday,  May 16th 6pm/8:30pm with Q&A

• Q&A with brothers Franz and Pete Stahl of the legendary DC band Scream. A new short film about Scream and their links to DC's garage band scene of the '60s will play before the feature.​

Esquire Theatre
​in Cincinnati, OH
​Showtimes: May 14th - May 20th
​Various Times Available Here

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
​in Winchester, VA
Showtimes: TBA (Check here for updates)

The Texas Theatre
​in Dallas, TX
Showtime: 8pm Friday, May 14th 
Purchase your ticket here.

PREMIERE DATE	VIRTUAL CINEMAS	TICKET BOOTH
Friday, May 14th	AFI Silver	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	International Film Series	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Hollywood Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Guild Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Countryfest Community Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Rosendale Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Colonial Performing Arts Center	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Metro Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Screenland Armour Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	​Gateway Film Center	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Suns Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Scarecrow Video Virtual Screenings	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Time & Space Museum	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Sunray Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Zeitgeist Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Parkway Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Olympia Film Society at The Capitol Theater	​Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Cinemapolis	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Nightlight Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Winnipeg Cinematheque	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Apohadion Theater/SPACE Gallery	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	New Plaza Screening Series	Available for Purchase Here
​Friday, May 14th	Acme Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Senator Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Charles Theatre	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	​The Avalon Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Amherst Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Roxie Cinema	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Miracle Theatre	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Michigan & State Theaters	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Grand Illusion	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Laemmle Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Brattle Theater	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	The Music Box	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 21st	Indie Memphis	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Ark Lodge Cinemas	Available for Purchase Here
Friday, May 14th	Salt Lake Film Society	Available for Purchase Here

PASSION RIVER PRESENTS
PUNK THE CAPITAL: BUILDING A SOUND MOVEMENT
2021 THEATRICAL PREMIERE IN 50+ CITIES
AVAILABLE FRIDAY MAY 14 IN VIRTUAL CINEMAS WORLDWIDE

PUNK THE CAPITAL - Film Info:

Directors: James June Schneider and Paul Bishow
Run time: 88 minutes
Language: English (also available with French-Canadian Subtitles)
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Synopsis:
This groundbreaking film about punk rock in Washington DC explores its uphill battles to take root in the Nation’s Capital. It takes us to the heart of this musical movement that not only redefined a genre but that influenced DIY culture and political engagement around the world.​

Meet the FIlmmakerS:

James June Schneider
Co-Director, Editor, Producer

James June Schneider is a D.C. native who came of age during the city’s mid-80s punk and skate scenes. Since 1992, he has been making films and videos. His award-winning filmography includes Blue is Beautiful (1997), with Dischord recording artists The Make-Up, and The End of the Light Age (2007) starring Lou Castel. He helmed The Band That Met the Sound Beneath (2012), with Chilean punk band Panico, and Young Oceans of Cinema, a portrait of France’s outsider filmmaker Jean Epstein.

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Paul Bishow
​Co-Director

Paul Bishow moved to DC in the mid-70s. He has since made dozens of films, both feature-length and short subject, mostly in Super-8 format. They range from the film essay Anarchy and Chaos Prelude, DC to Bad Brains (1979) to the feature fiction film It’s a Wonderful Horrible Life (2001). Many DC punk bands have appeared in his films. Footage from his films has appeared many docs, including Don Lett’s Punk Attitude and Mandy Stein’s Bad Brains, Band in DC (2012). Paul was a member of the “I Am Eye” Film Forum, which ran an underground film series from 1982-1997.

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Sam Lavine
Associate Producer, Co-Editor

Sam Lavine was born and raised in Washington, DC, where he was heavily influenced by the punk, hip-hop and go-go scenes of the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2003, as a drummer, Sam joined the tYPE1 circle, a collective of artists who first performed in different configurations as the aAvant-G_d Violence, Voids Moan before finally becoming the drummer of the Cornel West theory. Sam also produced several music videos for tYPE1 circle, which was the beginning of his interest in filmmaking. Sam continues to record and perform in and outside of D.C. with the band Light Beams. Learn more at samlavine.tumblr.com.

FULL Synopsis:

When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerful music, friendships, and clear minds. This film is the first to explore the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970’s.

​Punk the Capital situates DC punk within the larger narratives of rock n' roll, working as a powerful multi-layered story for both fans and non-fans of punk rock. Featuring musicians such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, and Ian MacKaye, this film dives deep into the ideas and sounds from this transformative music scene which continues to be influential culturally and politically around the world.​

PRODUCTION STILLS:

PUNK THE CAPITAL - Select PRESS:

"Bishop and Schneider successfully capture the zeitgeist that changed the world."

​“...the film takes viewers through the story of punk’s birth in the District (known for short-and- unsweetened paeans to defiance, the punk genre came to flourish in this capital city, becoming one of Washington’s greatest cultural exports.) Dating from the 1970s, the film’s footage captures the raucous spirit of the communion of limbs that once rattled around cramped houses and makeshift stages. That spirit is one of the hallmarks of Washington’s punk landscape that carries through to today:
a D.I.Y. spirit of music-making that exists not because it’s fun or easy, but because doing it
​under anyone else’s rules would betray your principles.”

"From such unpromising humus grew something incredible, a coming together of like-minded kids in defiance of
the nihilistic impulses and metropolitan elitism of de facto punk citadels London and New York.
Its ritual moments of conception and birth are captured in Punk the Capital – Building a Sound Movement,
a terrific new documentary [...]
Even if you think you already know everything you ever wanted to about Washington’s hardcore punk scene,
Punk the Capital will surprise you. It is deeply intelligent and satisfying, a moving and affectionate corrective to
punk’s traditionally bleak self-accounting."

"[Punk the Capital] shows itself to be a tribute to the scene that once was and as a doorway for those who don't know to better understand what punk is and should be"

"In an internet world where access to music is instant and robust (and has been for a good long while),
it is rare to again be offered that punk-archaeologist-treasure-hunt feeling – the satisfaction of unearthing something,
of that something being good, of seeing and hearing it at its beginning.
Thanks to Punk The Capital: Building A Sound Movement, you can have that again."

Visit PunkTheCapital.info