Lost Music Scene Subject For Area Filmmakers' Documentary
(Wellington, Florida--March 24, 2008) This April, two award-winning filmmakers will be turning back the clock 25 years to an era in South Florida that underscored one of the most explosive original rock music scenes in the country.
The feature documentary Rock and a Hard Place (Another Night at the Agora) is slated for its World Premier at the 2008 Palm Beach International Film Festival on Saturday, April 12th at 7:00pm and Thursday, April 17th at 7:30pm at Sunrise Cinemas at Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL.
Producer/Writer Diane Jacques and Director Aaron Wells follow the meteoric rise and fall of seven South Florida bands – The Kids, Z-Cars, Critical Mass, The Cichlids, Tight Squeeze, Slyder, and Charlie Pickett and the Eggs – who, in the late nineteen-seventies, were on the very brink of super-stardom. Unlike other rock music scenes of that era, location proved fatal and their music was all but forgotten.
Until now. It took the death of one very special woman, pioneering South Florida music agent and manager Sheila Witkin, to inspire the bands to reunite onstage and give their music a second chance.
Drawing from rare vintage photographs & videos, personal interviews, and dozens of live performances from the 2007 Sheila Witkin Benefit Reunion Concert, Rock and a Hard Place provides an intimate portrait of the bands who drove the scene and teetered on the brink of international celebrity.
"We are very excited about premiering at PBIFF," states Wells regarding the two-year effort to capture and tell the bands' story. "The film gives us a chance to step back in time and experience some of the best rock music to ever come out of South Florida."
"I grew up in South Florida during that era," adds Jacques. "The film is a real testimony to the remarkable talent that has always come out of the area. We’ve heard about the New York music scene and the Seattle music scene. Yet, who has ever heard of original Rock from South Florida? As filmmakers, it enabled us to deliver a very compelling and untold story."
Additional information on the documentary can be found at the film's web site, www.AnotherNightAtTheAgora.com. For additional information on the Palm Beach International Film Festival, or to purchase tickets, visit the festival’s web site at
http://www.pbifilmfest.org or call 561-362-0003.
###
