Iron Maiden’s debut performance in Colombia has inspired a new film, The Night of the Beast.

The concert is regarded as a watershed cultural moment among the country’s fervent metal fanbase. On Feb. 28, 2008, thousands of fans packed Bogota’s Simon Bolivar Park to see the legendary band, with a portion of the performance later featured in the group’s Iron Maiden: Flight 666 documentary.

Variety describes the new movie as “an urban road trip” following two teenagers as they journey to attend the landmark event.

The Night of the Beast marks the feature film directorial debut of Mauricio Leiva-Cock, creator of the Netflix series Green Frontier. The Bogota-born filmmaker saw the project as a chance to shine a light on a seldom seen section of Colombian society. “It’s not the Colombian film that is usually seen through festivals. It doesn’t have the usual norms. It’s not a film about poverty, violence or death,” the director noted. “It’s a film about two teenagers going to a metal concert. Sometimes people don’t see these stories fitting into our narrative, when to me they are as much ours as anyone else’s.”

Several of the band’s songs will be featured in The Night of the Beast, including “Aces High” and “The Trooper.”

For the film, Leiva-Cock was determined to break traditional metalhead stereotypes. “We worked with many metalheads and it’s [a] huge group filled with everything, but especially immensely clever and self-educated people,” the director explained, adding that he was also annoyed by those who suggested the film needed to be more political. “To me it is far more political to talk about how culture, and specifically music, can become this tool against violence, or in this film specifically, the value of friendship — postures that are not intrinsically political, but which have to do with how we behave towards one another.”

The Night of the Beast is currently in post-production, with release details yet to be announced.

 

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