ABOUT THE DEBATE AND THE DOCUMENT:

"How Frank Zappa and electric guitar helped to defeat Communism in Eastern Europe" - The presentation will be in English.

During the talk, Petr Dorůžka, a leading Czech expert in modern music, will reflect on a period over three decades ago when the udnerground sceene in Czechoslovakia battled against communism. They unexpected ally was Frank Zappa, the LA-based American rock, pop, and jazz musician and composer known for his noncoformity, improvisation, and sound experimentation.

Throughout the evening, we will screen the documentary "Frank Zappa v Praze" (dir. Jan Rubeš, ml. 30min, 1990). The documentary is primarily in English with Czech subtitles, featuring short segements of dialogue in Czech. Follwoing the screening of this 30-minute film on Zappa´s first visit to Prague in January 1990, just weeks after the Velvet Revolution that toppled the Communism in Czechoslovakia, Petr will talk about the role of the electric guitar in defeating Communism in Eastern Europe and discuss why Zappa was so much hated by the Czech secret police.

ABOUT PETR DORŮŽKA:
Petr Dorůžka is a  journalist, producer, author, lecturer at the Charles University in Prague, and a host on Prague Radio and Czech National Radio, With a longstanding career in world music, he has been a part of the World Music Charts Europe almost since its inception, serving as a key jounalist and participating in numerous importatn panels in the world music scene. He is highly respected source of information among global music experts. Dorůžka is also the author of a book on Zappa and served as his personal interpreter during Zappa's visit to Prague, including meetings with President Havel.

WHERE AND WHEN:
Friday, May 10, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles
10990 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90024.

RSVP:
Please confirm your attendance by May 7 , 2024 to: CzechConsulateLA@gmail.com