Music documentary A Venue for the End of the World fits this particular American election cycle to a tee: it's all about crowd manipulation and leader worship.
“The ideal situation would be that lots of our American friends see the movie before they vote this year,” said the film's Australian director Aidan Prewett.
The documentary features interviews with a host of luminaries, including Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Santana drummer Michael Shrieve and Don't Look Back filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker.
”When we look to the past and speak with people who knew JFK and Richard Nixon, we really get a sense that what's happening today is not that different,” said producer Schy Peterson.
“We'd like people to see the film and feel reinforced that they can work out who might be a Kennedy and who might be a Nixon. Hint, hint.”
Prewett's documentary is being released through Los Angeles distributor BrinkVision, and will be available in the U.S. at Barnes and Noble, Best Buy and Amazon from tomorrow (April 5).
The film makes the arresting proposition that the sway of rock stars over crowds is similar to that weilded by dictators.
“We really wanted to see what would happen if Mick Jagger took on Adolf Hitler in a battle of stage presence,” said Prewett. “We found out. Jagger wins hands down. But Hitler wins hands up.”
A Venue for the End of the World is also available to stream through Amazon.