Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement

Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
A documentary about the rise of punk rock in the town that needed it most… Washington D.C. (1976-1983)
Available digitally everywhere on June 29th – Pre-order now on Apple TV and iTunes
Featuring Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Void, Rites of Spring, and more, including a never-before-seen entire Super-8 archive of early DC punk footage and interviews from Henry Rollins,
Ian MacKaye, H.R., Cynthia Connolly, Jello Biafra, Joe Keithley, and many others
Blu-ray and DVD available now includes 50+ minutes of bonus shorts with
Scream, Void, The Cramps, and The Slickee Boys available via Dischord Records

When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerful music, friendships, and clear minds. This film explores the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970’s.
Punk the Capital situates DC punk within the larger narratives of rock n’ roll, working as a powerful multi-layered story for both fans and non-fans of punk rock. Featuring musicians such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, and Jello Biafra, this film dives deep into the ideas and sounds from this transformative music scene that not only redefined a genre but that created a widely employed model for DIY culture and political engagement.
Created by James June Schneider (co-director, editor), Paul Bishow (co-director), and Sam Lavine (associate producer, co-editor), Punk the Capital was theatrically released in over 50 cities, selected for key festivals (BAFICI, In Edit Barcelona, etc) and has garnered enthusiastic reviews from fans and the press alike (Rolling Stone, Film Threat… %100 on Rotten Tomatoes).
Since its premiere at the American Film Institute, most of the 60+ in- person screenings have been special events, with Q&As with the directors and Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, curator/publisher Roger Gastman, Bob Boilen, just to name a few.
Punk the Capital will be available on all digital platforms on June 29th, but is now available for pre-order on Apple TV and iTunes.
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US for Record Store Day on June 12th via Passion River and in the UK for Record Store Day on July 12th via Wienerworld. A portion of all DVDs and Blu Rays sold through Dischord Records will go to the DC based charity We Are Family.
As an added bonus, the discs contain 50+ minutes of short films from the archives of Punk the Capital:
  • Scream Meets The Hangmen: Featuring all of Scream including Dave Grohl
  • Void and Friends: A portrait of the cult hardcore band from the DC suburbs
  • The Seminal WGTB Concert: The legendary first punk concert for so many DC kids, The Cramps and total chaos
  • The Slickee Boys: Extra material on the band who got DC punk off the ground circa ’76

Punk The Capital – A Documentary

Punk The Capital – A Documentary
Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
A documentary tracing the birth of punk rock in Washington D.C. (1976-1983)
Featuring Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Void, Rites of Spring, and more, with interviews
from Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, H.R., Jello Biafra, Joe Keithley, and many others
Premiering exclusively in Theaters and on Virtual Cinema nationwide beginning May 14th
DVD / Blu-ray to be released for National Record Store Day on June 8th via Passion River

When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerful music, friendships, and clear minds. This film is the first to explore the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970’s.
Punk the Capital situates DC punk within the larger narratives of rock n’ roll, working as a powerful multi-layered story for both fans and non-fans of punk rock. Featuring musicians such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, and Jello Biafra, this film dives deep into the ideas and sounds from this transformative music scene which continues to be influential culturally and politically around the world.
Created by James June Schneider (Co-Director, Editor), Paul Bishow (Co-Director), and Sam Lavine (Associate Producer, Co-Editor), Punk the Capital is Punk the Capital has been on the road since its World Premiere weekend in Washington D.C. held simultaneously at the American Film Institute and the Hirshhorn Museum (Sound Scene festival). The filmmakers took the film around the USA and Europe to festivals, cinematheques, cinemas, galleries and community spaces. It has been selected for festivals including In-Edit (Barcelona and Brazil) BAFICI, Leeds International Film Festival, and Sound Unseen.
Each screening has been an event, with at least one of the filmmakers present and for the majority of dates, there has been a special guest (Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, Cynthia Connolly, HR of Bad Brains and many others.) The goal of the team was to reach 100 consecutive in-person events. They made it to 50 before the pandemic began.
Schneider states:
“We were touring the film like a band would until the pandemic hit. Now as things open back up, we’re glad to kick off the theatrical release for a variety of reasons. Some of the cinemas where Punk the Capital will be showing, I screened my films back in 1997 when filmmaker Martha Colburn and I hit the road together. I’ve been thinking about them as we piece this together. Before we release the film on DVD/Blu-ray we wanted to undertake a big push with a theatrical release, part virtual, part in person, that I hope will do its part in getting some of these struggling indie cinemas some much-needed support. And we also are looking forward to sharing the film in these times since it’s an optimistic film essentially about building something new and constructive despite the odds.
The final version of our film that we’re releasing now is just the intense tip of the iceberg – our first cut was 7 hours long. In the end, we wound up focusing on the untold and improbable story of punk rock’s beginnings in Washington DC, that happened concurrently with cities across the western world. We took a lot of our extra material that otherwise might never have been seen and edited it together to make short films that will be in the bonus section on the DVD (and Blu-ray). One of the shorts focuses on the band Scream and their family connections to DC’s 1960’s legendary garage band scene.
As we roll the film out, we’ve been blown away by the positive response not just from fans of punk and DC punk who see and hear a lot of unseen material. We’ve also heard from a lot of people even up to 90 years old who don’t really like punk but who nonetheless love the film. We’re glad to see that Punk the Capital works on a lot of levels and are hoping that it will reach a broad audience since the DIY ideas highlighted in the film about the DC punk scene go well beyond the music.”