SYNOPSIS:
The Art of Dissent celebrates the power of artistic engagement in Czechoslovakia before and after the 1968
Soviet-led invasion. The documentary’s main protagonists – Václav Havel, banned singer Marta Kubišová, and the underground rock group the Plastic People of the Universe – became the most recognizable dissidents during the 1970-80s. Havel fused literary, political, philosophical, and rock ’n’ roll worlds into a hybrid network that eventually toppled the totalitarian regime.
Director's Bio:
James Dean Le Sueur is Samuel Clark Waugh Distinguished Professor of International Relations and Chair of the History Department at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He completed his PhD in history at the University of Chicago, and was elected Senior Associate Members of St Antony’s College, Oxford in 2002. He has written extensively on the history of decolonization, terrorism and intellectuals and has worked with film for 15 years. The Art of Dissent is his first feature documentary, and he is currently working on two new films, one on death threats against writers, artists, athletes and activists by authoritarian regimes and religious extremists after 1989, and a second on terrorism in the United States before 9/11. He teaches history and filmmaking. He is a producer, editor, writer and cinematographer and is a professional photographer.