A documentary on notorious BitTorrent service The Pirate Bay will debut on February 8, the filmmakers announced on Tuesday. True to its nature, the film, dubbed TBP AFK, will be released online for free under a Creative Commons license, allowing fans to share it, download it, and remix it legally.
“By sharing this film under a Creative Commons license, we hope to contribute to a serious debate about the social and economic benefits of sharing,” writes Simon Klose, who directed the film. “We also hope to prove that sharing can be a realistic business model.”
At the same time the film is released online, TPB AFK (which stands for “The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard”) will make its debut at 5pm CET (11am ET) at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Germany.
TPB AFK follow The Pirate Bay founders – Fredik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi – through the various trials (literally) and tribulations that go with running Hollywood’s most despised website. Filming of TPB AFK began in 2008. In August 2010, the filmmakers launched a successful Kickstarter project, which garnered them an additional $51,424 dollars to pay for additional filming and editing.
In February, Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected a request to hear appeal of The Pirate Bay founders’ 2009 sentence of as much as one year in prison and $6.8 million (46 million Swedish kronor) in fines. TPB AFK shows The Pirate Bay crew as “they are confronted with the reality of life offline – away from keyboard,” according to the film’s press release (PDF).
Watch the TPB AFK trailer below:
