System of a Down’s Serj Tankian has shared the new trailer for Truth to Power, a documentary that examines the singer’s role in the 2018 Armenian Revolution, as well as his history of activism.
“Whatever statement I make is based on an injustice occurring somewhere that I want to rectify. I don’t think about what I’m going to say, how I’m going to say it, I just open my mouth and it comes out,” Tankian says in the trailer.
The film, out in “virtual cinemas” via Oscilloscope Laboratories on February 19th, features an original score composed by Tankian; the preview features a snippet of new music from Tankian’s Elasticity EP, due out in February. Truth to Power also features interviews with Tankian’s System of a Down bandmates, producer Rick Rubin, and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, his recent collaborator on a cover of Gang of Four’s “Natural’s Not in It.”
“With exclusive interviews, adventures, and original footage personally filmed by Serj, Truth to Power allows audiences backstage access to an international rock star whose faith in music not only revolutionized heavy metal but also world events,” Oscilloscope Laboratories said of the documentary. “Throughout his life, the musician has pursued social justice, harnessing the power of his songs and celebrity for real political change. Serj’s voice is equally likely to take on American corporate greed as lambast the corrupt regime of his homeland. His decades-long campaign for formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide was finally approved by Congress last year. Governments hate him. People love him.”
Tankian told Rolling Stone of Truth to Power in a 2018 interview: “[It’s] looking through my eyes at how message becomes reality through the arts,” he said. “Instead of focusing on me as an artist, it asks, how does one’s message come to fruition? Can music change the world?”
From Rolling Stone US
