Serj Tankian has branched out from his day job as charismatic frontman to Grammy-winning metal band System of a Down to produce and front a new documentary about the band – and as this exclusive clip from the film shows, a fair few other things besides.
With a title that could equally work as a leitmotif for Tankian’s personal and political philosophy, Truth to Power captures the Armenian-American musician’s restless struggles for social justice and humanitarian causes. Most specifically, his long campaign to get international governments to recognise the Armenian genocide of the early 1900s – and here, his support for Armenia’s current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the time of the country’s 2018 revolution:
The doc is directed by Garin Hovannisian, whose debut feature, 1915, Tankian scored. As you’d expect, there’s plenty of music – Tankian scored Truth to Power too, and the EP will be out on March 19 – and fans will enjoy seeing bandmates Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan up close. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello also pops by as one of the doc’s interviewees.
There’s are plenty of good reasons for System’s long hiatus in there for curious SOAD-ers. Including musical side projects and, you know, doing that actual revolution. Most of all though, it’s an access-all-areas insight into what makes this rock icon tick.
Truth to Power is available via PVOD worldwide now. Check out the full trailer here.