Los Ultimos Frikis

LOS ÚLTIMOS FRIKIS tells the story of ZEUS, Cuba’s most popular heavy metal band, and their 30-year fight to be heard.

When ZEUS formed in Havana 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.

Vinyl records were destroyed, concerts were broken up, and the long-haired frikis were thrown in jail. ZEUS’s lead singer, Dionisio “Diony” Arce, spent six years in prison at the height of his career.

Today, ZEUS is part of the communist system as an official band within the Ministry of Culture’s Agency of Rock. The government that once silenced them now pays their salaries and promotes them around the island. These grey-haired rockers traded in their rebellion for the chance to play their music. But at what cost?

For ZEUS’s 25th anniversary, the government gives the band permission to go on their first national tour. It’s a dream come true for the band—a triumph after years

struggling to create a space for their music. As ZEUS embarks on the cross- country journey, they discover that their place at the center of Cuban counter- culture isn’t what they once believed. Screaming on stage, Diony is no longer a rebel. Some kids even laugh at him.

Bouncing across the island, ZEUS comes face to face with a changing country and a new generation that no longer tunes into the band’s loud, aggressive music. As Cuba optimistically opens its doors to what many hope will be a more comfortable and secure future, the country’s musical tastes shift to newer, sexier sounds. There is no space left for rock and roll. Once at the forefront of youth culture, ZEUS risks fading into a quiet irrelevance.

Returning to Havana after a heart-breaking tour, Diony and his bandmates must confront whether they have become the country’s last freaks—los últimos frikis. 

ZEUS
Dionisio L. Arce Camps
Hansel Arrocha Sala
Ivan Vera Munoz
Yamil Sire Arias
Eduardo Longa Aguilar

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
The Moving Picture Institute
Freethink Media
Anamari Films

PRODUCED BY
John Logan Pierson

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Alex Gibney
W Wilder Knight II
Dave Lombardo
Joey Carey
Andrew Beck

CO-PRODUCERS
Paola Helen
Javier Labrador
Hossein Keshavarz
Dan Gerawan

Mari Dawson
Chandler Tuttle
Rossana Reyes Rosa

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Lana Link

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Javier Labrador
Nicholas Brennan

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Dave Lombardo

SOUND DESIGN
Raymel Casamayor

Format: High Definition Video, 5.1 Dolby Sound
Country of Origin: USA, Cuba
Language: Spanish with English subtitles