Wake Up Punk – an inside look at the original punk scene that ended in the 1970s

Fresh off its World premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, WAKE UP PUNK, comes from the heart of the Punk movement and is a unique insight into the true origins of punk.

Joe Corré, son of punk visionaries Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, burns an estimated £5M worth of punk memorabilia protesting the commodification of punk. WAKE UP PUNK takes this incendiary act of ‘cultural terrorism’ and the questions it raised to explore the lifespan and true worth of punk – the 20th century’s most volatile movement. The process behind destroying the memorabilia and the condemnation Corré received for setting irreplaceable objects from music history alight; activism is the new punk, and that punk has been appropriated by the establishment.

Exploring the music, politics and fashion that drove the movement to its eventual commercial demise, Vivienne Westwood gives a never heard before insight as she charts the decline of punk and the subsequent rise of climate activism among the younger generations. 

Follow as Joe Corré, son of punk visionaries Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, burns an estimated £5M worth of punk memorabilia protesting the commodification of punk. WAKE UP PUNK takes this incendiary act of ‘cultural terrorism’ and the questions it raised to explore the lifespan and true worth of punk – the 20th century’s most volatile movement.With a fusion of documentary and magical realism, the film captures intimate moments between Vivienne and her two sons Ben and Joe as they candidly discuss their own relationship with McLaren and stories from the punk era. Addressing voter apathy, imminent climate catastrophe and the rapidly evolving social context, the film calls for a resurrection of the energy of the “no future” generation.

Directed by Nigel Askew, the film features fascinating, in-depth interviews with Punk legends from ‘Queen Of Punk’ Jordan, aka Pamela Rooke, who recently died of cancer, to Punk and Fashion Icon Vivienne Westwood.

Speaking about the film Director Nigel Askew said “WAKE UP PUNK was ignited because of the establishment’s misappropriation of Punk, a fightback from the heart of the movement. ‘Punk was not about music it’s about an attitude to life’. I thought I knew what Punk meant, the journey of making this film revealed to me a whole new insight to the movement, more complex than I could ever have imagined.”

Available from Republic Film Distribution.