Are We Not Men?, an upcoming feature-length documentary about Devo, is a long-awaited filmic journey into the heart of one of the most fascinating bands — and art projects — of all time.

“We’re still waiting to get to where Devo was in 1979,” says Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl in the trailer for the documentary, viewable above.

Directed by Andy Pemberton, Are We Not Men? was three years in the making. Now in post-production, the documentary features interviews with big-time celebrities (including Grohl, Tony Hawk and Iggy Pop) as well as rare archival footage and in-depth interviews with original band members — most notably Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale.

Devo wasn’t just about clever synthpop, as heard in hit songs like “Whip It,” and the documentary goes deep into the volatile social and political stew that the Akron, Ohio-based band grew out of in the 1970s.

The terrible tragedy at Kent State University in 1970 was a key turning point. “It wasn’t until I was in the middle of the killings at Kent State that I really snapped,” says Casale in the documentary. “I saw how things really worked and how power works. I saw a girl laying on her stomach with blood rolling down the sidewalk.”

Devo’s members used the politically charged events of the day as ammunition for their music, which fused radical concept art with smart, incisive lyrics and razor-sharp beats. “This is the band of the future,” David Bowie proclaimed in 1977.

“We set about using music to report on what we were looking at, which we called ‘de-evolution’,” Mothersbaugh says in the documentary.

The makers of Are We Not Men? have already exceeded their $25,000 Kickstarter goal, with several weeks remaining. If all goes according to plan, the documentary will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival next year.