Canadian Premiere
Dubbed the “Rolling Stones of the Underground,” The Fugs were a proto-punk band in New York whose combination of high-minded literariness and taboo-embracing contempt for social norms made them one of the strangest acts of the 1960s. From their origins as beatnik poets and bookstore owners with questionable musical talent, to their cult status as genuine performance artists pushing the boundaries of taste, The Fugs were the living embodiment of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll — so much so that an FBI file refers to them as “the filthiest and most vulgar thing the human mind could possibly conceive.”
Unearthing archival footage not just of the Fugs but the larger 1960s counterculture scene, director Chuck Smith turns to interviews with underground icons, artists, and musicians like Robert and Aline Crumb, Penny Arcade, and Lenny Kaye as he traces the band’s offbeat origin story. A celebration of rebellion, poetry, and life itself, Fugs Film! is a raucous, irreverent chronicle of The Fugs’ legacy.
Presented by
Media Partner
Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Ken Weaver, Peter Stampfel
USA
2025
English
At The Cinematheque
At Fifth Ave
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits & Director
Producer
Chuck Smith
Editor
Chuck Smith
Cinematography
Andy Bowley
Original Music
The Fugs
Chuck Smith
Chuck Smith is a filmmaker, TV producer, and writer who has produced documentaries and TV series for many media outlets including CBS News, Fox, National Geographic, and Discovery. With his own company, Chuck Smith Productions, he has produced, directed, and edited two feature-length documentaries, Fugs Film! (2025) and the award-winning, New York Times Critic’s Pick Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground (2019). He also produced and co-directed Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle (1999), narrated by Willem Dafoe. His other independent films and interviews can be found on his YouTube channel ChuckSmithNYC.
Filmography: Forrest Bess: Key to the Riddle (1999); Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground (2018); Keep Singing: A Tribute to Jonas Mekas (2019)
Portraits
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