System of a Down’s Serj Tankian Speaks ‘Truth to Power’ in New Documentary
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian stars in the upcoming documentary Truth to Power, a film from Live Nation Productions and the musician's own Serjical Strike Entertainment. Set to premiere this week in Cannes' virtual market, the movie explores the melding of music and activism via Tankian.
The frontman's System of a Down bandmates John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian also make appearances in the documentary — as does the group's manager, David "Beno" Benveniste, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, record producer Rick Rubin and filmmaker Carla Garapedian. Morello and Tankian founded the non-profit organization Axis of Justice in the early 2000s, uniting music fans with their goal of fighting for social justice.
Watch a trailer down toward the bottom of this post.
According to a Tribeca Film Festival synopsis, Truth to Power portrays Tankian's "passion for human rights and activism. … Fueled by interviews with the band, their producers and fellow rock icons, [the film] is both an energizing rockumentary and an inspiring call to action for our turbulent times."
As Tankian says at one point in the trailer, "Music changes our intuitive parts; music changes the way we feel about things. How we feel about things can overwhelm our logic. And our logic being a part of the process can change the world. But it requires people realizing that they have the power."
Garin Hovannisian is the director behind the movie — he guided last year's I Am Not Alone, a doc about the 2018 Armenian velvet revolution. As longtime fans of System of a Down are most likely aware, Tankian is an Armenian-American who holds Armenia's social justice issues close to his heart.
While it's no new System of Down album, the documentary built around Tankian's outspoken activism certainly seems like an informative and entertaining watch. Now if only he and Dolmayan can continue to keep their differing political views from messing with the momentum of their influential band.
Truth to Power Trailer
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