In Russia, May 9 is Victory Day, a national holiday. It’s also the birthday of Dave Gahan, lead singer with Depeche Mode, and a group of Muscovite fans have declared it Dave Day, gathering together to celebrate the group with homemade banners, mass sing-alongs and club nights. In Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, the band’s music has been treasured since it was only available on illegal bootlegged cassettes in the 1980s, and it formed the soundtrack of the march toward freedom those countries embarked upon following the fall of the Berlin Wall. This situation is mirrored in Tehran, where fans take huge risks in listening to their music in a country that has banned all Western music since the Islamic Revolution. In the UK, the church of St Edward King and Martyr in Cambridge holds services for goths where they play Depeche Mode records. Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and filmmaker Nicholas Abrahams tell these and other stories of faith and devotion from around the world in this fascinating and inspired documentary about fandom, which is at turns bizarre, funny, sad and often touching. 'One of the best music films ever made' : the Quietus 'One of the best films ever made about music' : Dangerous Minds ‘hilarious and politically fascinating’ : Dazed and Confused ‘a fascinating documentary’ : Time Out ‘a fantastic film’ : Daniel Miller, Mute Records ‘a brilliant documentary’ : Sunday Telegraph ‘a sad, funny portrait of pop music’s multiple confusions’ : Sight and Sound ‘not your standard music documentary’ 4 out of 5 stars : Guardian newspaper ‘Depeche Mode ought to reach out and touch British filmmakers Nick Abrahams and Jeremy Deller for making the most loving and life-affirming documentary about their fans’ LA Weekly ‘If it’s wrong to get goosebumps watching a marching band play “Personal Jesus,” then we don’t want to be right’ : LA Times ‘the most fun film of the (London film) festival’ : the Observer newspaper ‘a passionate, poignant and extremely entertaining celebration’ : Bizarre magazine
