Back to Babylonia

May 1994. Babylonia, a live club in the deep Italian northwest, far from the major touring circuits, calls Radiohead for its grand opening. No recordings or footage of that show exist, there is only the promotional poster that has circulated on social media for years. That black-and-white photo perfectly represents the trajectory of Babylonia: a beautiful meteor that illuminated the lives of so many young Italians. This is where the challenge of “Back to Babylonia” begins: to recount the socio-cultural value of that experience twenty years after its closure, while expanding the analysis to the 1990s—a historical period of profound generational change.

The story of Babylonia is part of our formative journey, a journey we share with dozens of our peers, scattered throughout Italy and beyond.

To try to understand why that experience was so significant, we decided to set out on a journey to hear the firsthand accounts of those who lived through that era as key players, both on and off stage: musicians, journalists, writers, technicians, and promoters.

A journey to find the answer to the question: have Thom Yorke and his band ever played in Biella, deep in the Italian countryside?

With the support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte

Selected for the Eurodoc 2025 - Local Workshop