Runtime: 4 minutes
Gogol Bordello is a band founded in 1999 in New York by the Ukrainian Eugene Hutz.
Their music is an enraged, chaotic and visionary marriage between rock culture and Eastern European / Gypsy music sonorities. The group's international success has not weakened neither the musical direction taken by its leader - trans global gypsy punk rock - nor their defense of the rights of Roma communities in Eastern Europe. Their first single was released in 1999 and since then the group has released five full-length albums. It is the last album, Transcontinental Hustle that features the song Break the Spell. Since 1999, the band has appeared in a number of independent films (cf. Everything is Illuminated, 2005).
The music video for Break the Spell shows the living conditions of the Roma in today's Europe, characterized by poverty, discrimination and police brutality. Break the Spell is about wanting to change the hopeless situation in which most Roma find themselves today, as well about the hypocrisy of the rest of the society; as Eugene sings, 'You love our music but you hate our guts'.
Screening: Sunday, November 13, 12:00PM at 217 East 42nd Street Reserve Seats