SaŠo PodgorŠek

Divided States of America/ Laibach 2004 Tour

Director	Sašo Podgoršek
Country of production:	Slovenia
Year of production:	2005
Duration:	65 min
Sound:	Sašo Podgoršek, Julij Zornik
Camera:	Sašo Podgoršek
Editing:	Sašo Podgoršek
Music:	Laibach
Production:	Divided Artists
Distribution:	Nord Cross Production

Film plot

Laibach conducted its first tour of North America in 1989, two years before the disintegration of its mother country, Yugoslavia. It was called "Sympathy for the Devil Tour". The following two extensive tours happened in 1992 and in 1997. Then came the attack on WTC, the avenging wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, and the universal offensive against terrorism, events which radically marked the new millennium- but also tightened the doors to the USA for many foreigners. Despite that, in election year 2004, in a tensely divided atmosphere between President Bush and Democratic candidate Kerry, Laibach successfully slipped again into the country to carry out their latest 15-concert North American tour. The first stop was in Washington, D.C., only a gunshot from the White House and only one day after the election results had been announced. This film is a unique document of the Laibach tour, set during the traumatic post-election atmosphere in the USA, a country deeply divided by two opposite political and cultural poles. The tour has been therefore named "The Divided States of America Tour"

Sašo Podgoršek was born in 1964. Since leaving the Ljubljana Academy for Theatre, Film, Radio and Television, he has been directing commercials, music videos, dance films and long feature films. He has received several national and international awards for his films: Place with a view (1989); But the Goat Survived (1991); Vertigo Bird (1996); Dark Angels (1999);  Dom Svobode (2000); Sweet Dreams (2001); Divided States of America/ Laibach 2004 Tour (2005); What are you going to do when you get out of here? (2005).