Politics has been the main topic of discussion at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, with many actors and filmmakers making headlines for steering away from the matter.
Not Tom Morello, of course.
The politically outspoken Rage Against the Machine member appeared at the iconic festival for the world premiere of The Ballad of Judas Priest, the documentary he co-directed with Sam Dunn.
The Ballad of Judas Priest follows the titular heavy metal legends from their humble origins in England all the way to their recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
According to its synopsis, the film “dives deep into vocalist Rob Halford’s long struggle as a closeted gay man in heavy metal, and explores the ‘culture war’ surrounding the band’s controversial, high-profile trial during the Satanic panic of the 1980s.”
When Morello was asked to weight in on the conversation surrounding politics at the festival, he responded (as per Variety), “What a time to be alive, where you can both make a documentary about one of your favourite bands and fight fascism at the same time.”
After a round of applause, he added: “The band’s existence is very political. When I’ve seen Judas Priest over the last decade or so in Los Angeles, the audience is maybe more than 50% Latino, it’s a lot of gay couples.
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“Nothing that has anything to do with any of the stereotypical — yes, there are some older dudes like myself in leather jackets probably bringing their kids to the show — but that community and the unity and the harmony that exists at a Judas Priest show, is in some ways a model for how we all can do better.”
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford was also at the festival press conference, where he said that he can’t help “seeing things in the world that affect me that get me pissed off and thinking, ‘Is there a way that I can put this in a song?’ And I’ve been doing that forever.”
Morello made headlines in the US earlier this month through his typically robust response to the fraught political landscape in his home country.
He organised an anti-ICE protest concert in Minneapolis following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in the city. Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance to play his new protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” at the concert.
“So I write this song, and I recorded it the next day, and I sent it to Tom Morello,” Springsteen informed the crowd. “Now I know Tom is an excitable man. I say, ‘Tom, what do you think? It’s kind of soapbox-y.’ And he says, ‘Bruce, nuance is wonderful, but sometimes, you have to kick them in the teeth.’”
Morello and his band also took to the stage at Minneapolis venue First Avenue. He and Springsteen performed “The Ghost of Tom Joad” together, while all the musicians from the event gathered for a closing performance of John Lennon’s “Power to the People”.
