Penelope Spheeris • 1 h 40m

Penelope Spheeris’ THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION was perceived as shocking and outrageous at the time of its original release in 1981. Today, museums and educational institutions around the world present it as a historically significant work of art. Featuring some of the most influential and innovative musicians and groups of all time – X, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Fear, Catholic Discipline, Germs, and Alice Bag Band – this riveting, unflinching and hard-core film adeptly captured the spirit of a major cultural phenomenon.

Their message is brutally clear: Destroy the old and make way for the new. This is the punk’s violent revolution; Their lawless world. This is THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: A Riveting, unflinching account of the punk rock phenomenon and its alienated, reactionary subculture. This fierce, bleak portrait documents L.A.’s infamous punk bands as they perform on stage and discuss their lives, music and philosophy off stage. Through interviews with punk fans, music critics and club owners, it is a crucial, compelling statement of the most significant and influential youth movement and musical transformation of the past 3 decades. It is perhaps a prophetic glimpse of the forces that will inherit our world…. Witness THE DECLINE.

Co-presented with Next Chapter Records.