80s Romania was culturally locked in from of the West. Access to pop/rock music was often as scarce as the one to food. With no Google, Wikipedia, magazines or photos, discos were the only places where people could listen to the music forbidden by the Communist Party. The DJs were the only ones bringing music to the people. The records were being trafficked, music was being secretly recorded from foreign radio stations and played in front of the crowds eager to dance. Playback is a documentary film built around one of the most known DJs of those times, Sorin Lupascu. It is a portrait of a man whose journey through life gradually gained its own soundtrack. Through archive footage and present-day images, Playback recreates a selective chronology of the musical encounters that shaped the face of a society, from communist 80s Romania to the present day freedom and democracy.
—Zbang Film