Thunderdome Never Dies

Thunderdome is a Dutch rave series that began in the nineties. The documentary argues that these parties remade nightlife and turned dance music into the country’s largest cultural export; that assessment is the film’s own. Thunderdome came back in 2017 after five years of silence, and the film follows that return. The question of the account is plain: can the same thing be built again for a new generation. The founders from the nineties and the new names of today speak side by side. The documentary stands close to the stage and tells the story from inside. The crowd that listens is as much a subject as the music itself. The eighty two minute Dutch documentary by Ted Alkemade and Vera Holland was completed in 2019.