From Political Prisoners To Rock Gods – The Story of Zeus and Los Ultimos Frikis

Los Últimos Frikis follows the iconic Cuban heavy metal band, Zeus. In the award-winning documentary, Los Últimos Frikis charts their tumultuous journey from being persecuted in the 1980’s during Fidel Castro’s regime to government sanctioned. It premiered at DOC NYC and has enjoyed a successful run at festivals around the world.

Filmed in Cuba over the course of ten years, Los Últimos Frikis tells the story of iconic Cuban heavy metal band Zeus and their three-decade fight to be heard. When Zeus formed in the 1980s, rock music was illegal and rockers were derisively called los frikis—the freaks. Fidel Castro’s communist government saw rock and roll as a mortal threat sent by a capitalist enemy. In the face of repression, Zeus rose to infamy as a counter-cultural phenomenon but paid a price. Zeus’s lead singer, Dionisio “Diony” Arce, spent six years in prison at the height of his career.

Today, the band is part of the system as an official group within the Ministry of Culture’s Agency of Cuban Rock. As Cuba’s political and social climate go through historic change, the band embarks on a national tour across the island to defend their cultural impact and livelihood—to prove that frikis still have a voice in Cuba. Check out the interview below with Director Nicholas Brennan and Cinematographer/Producer Javier Labrador.