Hype!

Director: Doug Pray

1996 / 84min / DCP

Incubated in a ’80s DIY underground of ’zine trading, left-of-the-dial college radio stations, independent labels, and basement shows, what came to be marketed as “grunge” and later “alternative rock” was built to endure just about anything except the catastrophe of world-conquering, arena-filling success. Pray’s Hype! explores, with a wry sense of irony and an obvious affection for the music and musicians depicted, what happens when a corporate feeding frenzy ascends on scenes in which eschewing of the trappings of rock stardom and never selling out have traditionally been points of pride—that is, when it’s not pummeling you with peak-of-powers performances by Nivana, Mudhoney, The Gits, The Melvins, and many more. “Offers a fond chronology of Seattle’s many interconnected bands… Revealingly chronicles the process whereby [a] loud, ragged music evolved from pure, angry excitement into something so easy to sell.” —The New York Times

Distributor: AGFA