Mento was the first national music of Jamaica and it begat Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and the Dancehall music of today. No film has been made wholly about the subject and it is a little known genre around the world.
Social & External
In Missing 411: The UFO Connection, David Paulides continues the story of people who vanish in the wild without a trace. In his third documentary, David reveals the first evidence documenting a link between UFOs and missing people.
The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. At its highpoint, thousands of disenchanted white working class youths across the north of England danced to obscure, mid-60s Motown-inspired sounds until the sun rose. A dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves, vinyl obsession and much more grew up around this - all fuelled by the love of rare black American soul music with an express-train beat.
Stephen Cummings is one of Australia's most revered rock 'n' roll icons. Rising to fame as frontman of ‘70s legends The Sports, he has spent more than 30 years at the forefront of the local music scene, forging a reputation both as one of Australian rock's greatest lyrical storytellers and also one of its most incendiary critics. Based on his scathing tell-all memoir Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy?, Don't Throw Stones tells Cummings' story in his own words – as well as the words of those he has so gleefully skewered. Featuring interviews with Michael Gudinski, Steve Kilbey, Joe Camilleri and many more, Don't Throw Stones is a revealing portrait of three decades of rock-world gossip, larger-than-life personalities and good, old-fashioned artistic beef.
Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie's music was politically leftist, uniquely patriotic and always inspirational.
One record company has been a constant presence in popular music throughout our lives. EMI brought The Beatles to the world and in every decade since has been instrumental in producing some of Britain's most celebrated and enduring music.
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.
Documentarians Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer turn their camera on 81-year-old Traudl Junge, who served as Adolf Hitler's secretary from 1942 to 1945, and allow her to speak about her experiences. Junge sheds light on life in the Third Reich and the days leading up to Hitler's death in the famed bunker, where Junge recorded Hitler's last will and testament. Her gripping account is nothing short of mesmerizing.
With a lifelong mission to put soca music on the international map, Machel Montano has pioneered the evolution of the genre throughout his 34-year career.
Some 20 years ago, two sex workers were murdered in an upper-class Brussels neighborhood. Celebrated Belgian magistrate Anne Gurwez decides to revisit this cold case, pouring over the evidence with the use of new technologies and tracking down then-suspects.
Oscar winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.
"The Television Years" examines the events that took place in the years between 1956 and 1960, in which Elvis Presley excited a whole nation as the "King of Rock and Roll" in the big television shows of the time. One highlight of this time periode was Elvis' 1960 combeback hosted by Frank Sinatra, which marked his first appearance on televison after his two-year stay in the army.
A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.
Good Copy Bad Copy is a documentary about copyright and culture in the context of Internet, peer-to-peer file sharing and other technological advances.
Tokyo, the largest city in the world, wants to create a new urban culture. It is returning to the urban traditions and building techniques of the small town. The aim is to create a new balance between megacity and small-scale garden city. Tokyo's architects are the driving force. They want to create a new urban culture with revolutionary ideas.
Live: Right Here, Right Now. is the one and only live album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1993. The album combines songs performed over two nights in May 1992 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, CA. The bulk of the songs on this album were from the first night, such as the solos performed by Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar.
For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult movies, each pair of photographs in the same pose, clothed and nude. This film records the photo shoots and includes interviews with the performers and commentary from eight writers (and John Waters). The actors and writers discuss economics, nudity and exhibitionism, careers, and private lives.
A small town blanketed on the Midwest plains, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma has prospered despite dust bowls and oil busts that left many cities barren. Thriving on the town’s perseverance and pioneering spirit is the school’s marching band – The Pride of Broken Arrow. Despite their humble beginnings, the Broken Arrow band has become one of the nation’s dominating forces in the competitive world of marching band. This candid documentary reveals how these young musicians and their teachers come to understand the power of tradition, the depth of their character and the undeniable force of destiny that will push them towards the pinnacle of their season - Grand Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pride of Broken Arrow is a refreshing and inspirational look into a quintessential American drama.