Racks full of old 45s are flooded with songs no more than three minutes in length. The music stopped dead in its tracks—the melody unapologetically muted. Such was the accustomed norm for rock and roll until the prescience of the ’70s unleashed progressive rock for our ears delight. Ever since, bands from across the globe have happily carried on the mantle left by their esteemed forebears like Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd. In the new feature-length film Romantic Warriors, award-winning documentarian Adele Schmidt and progressive rock blogger José Zegarra Holder shed light on this tight-knit community commercial music left behind. The filmmakers follow 10 contemporary bands hailing from Silver Spring to Mexico City, whose members profess both their inspirations and ongoing devotions to the genre. The passing of progressive rock’s heyday hasn’t halted the music; it’s only reinforced the resolve of its fans for the music they revere to play on. Romantic Warriors is a loud and clear testament that it assuredly will.

THE FILM SCREENS AT 6:30 P.M. AT THE MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE, 2829 16TH ST. NW. FREE. (202) 728-1647.