For two hundred years, the Shakers have been America's most successful utopian society. While seeking harmony, order and perfection in every aspect of their lives, they built minimalistic furniture and buildings that influenced modern design. The Shakers wrote songs of exquisite beauty and danced to the point of ecstasy during their religious meetings. Inspired by this music and dance, choreographer Tero Saarinen created Borrowed Light, a dance piece about communal life and individual sacrifice. Shot in Finland and the United States, featuring interviews and excerpts from Borrowed Light, this documentary explore the cultural legacy of this religious group devoted to creating heaven on earth.
Referred to as "Woodstock of the 80s", the US Festival was iconic with over 2 million attendees. Created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and legendary concert promoter Bill Graham, the Us Festival assembled the best bands in the world including The Police, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Jackson Browne, Eddie Money, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, The Cars, Talking Heads, Ramones, Grateful Dead, Pat Benatar & The B52s.
While most of Ken Russell's documentaries for the BBC's Monitor arts strand focused on a single creative figure, he would also occasionally make more wide-ranging surveys of the state of a particular art. The Light Fantastic (BBC, tx. 18/12/1960) was written and presented by Ron Hitchins, a Cockney barrow boy who has long been interested in a great many dance forms, and who has recently taken up Spanish dancing. Hitchins participates in some of the dance sequences, but his main contribution is an enthusiastic commentary that helps personalise what could have been simply a disparate collection of dance footage. He's not shy about expressing likes and dislikes, being none too keen on ballroom dancing (too choreographed), rock'n'roll (too monotonous) and Morris dancing (just doesn't like it), though anything genuinely spontaneous gets a thumbs up, even if it's a room full of people dressed in black swaying to the sound of a gong.
This film is depicts early lesbian sexuality, using reenacted scenes from the experience of a 12-year old girl as the platform for a meditation on forbidden desire, transgression, and Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts of identity formation. Raw adolescent memories counterpoint staged scenes, exploring mechanisms of power and submission.
A look into the music of Slaraffenland.
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.
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.
A young woman and man are riding bikes through nature, having a good time. When she speeds up, he loses her, and after a while he stumbles across her bike without any trace of her. He stumbles through the forest looking for her, imagining how she kisses him. No dialogue, just "audio credits" instead of titles, saying the name of the film, actors and director.
Facing financial challenges and constant risks of injury, an innovative ballet company strives to bring the iconic Canadian story of Anne of Green Gables to new diverse audiences.
Follows Mas and Saha, two young Iranian asylum seeker musicians, navigating a frightening new world of immigration detention - where they discover the power of music.
This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at Björk and her touring entourage for the 2001 Vespertine tour. It includes interviews with harpist Zeena Parkins, the Inuit choir from Greenland, electronic duo Matmos, and an ongoing conversation with Björk herself about her recordings and her tours. The documentary is interspersed with live footage of songs from the tour shot by Ragnheidur Gestsdóttir, which themselves correspond to the performances chosen for the Vespertine Live album.
A humorous ode to the world of classical music and some of its star musicians.
Cinema and painting establish a fluid dialogue and begins with introspection in the themes and forms of the plastic work of a woman tormented by the elongated specters, originating from her obsessions and nightmares.
Cacaso, a Brazilian poet, lived in Rio de Janeiro. Born Antonio Carlos de Brito (1944-1987) he was one of the leaders of the marginal poetry movement. Cacaso filled notebooks not only with poems but reflections, drawings and collages. He also became a lyricist and partner of celebrated songwriters such as Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo, Toninho Horta, João Donato and Sivuca.
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.
For over four decades the Rolling Stones have been on top. Arrests, drugs, fall-outs, death and relationships have stood center stage with eight consecutive number one albums in the US and sold out live shows.
Thanks to his myriad film roles, Lon Chaney is known as “the man of a thousand faces,” and you could say that the early horror era never beheld a figure more intriguing. Yet because of his numerous transformations, his face never became as iconic as that of, say, Boris Karloff. Accompanied by a soundtrack from Bernhard Lang, this “re-imagination of shots” taken from Chaney´s forty-six surviving films offers a beguiling excursion into the history of film. The director reveals surprising associations, while highlighting the enduring magic of works which are now more or less forgotten.
Cesária Évora made the music of the Cape Verde islands famous throughout the world in the early 1990s. This film is an introduction to the culture, music and zest for life of the Cape Verdean people. On the occasion of the famous carnival of Mindelno, on the island of São Vicente where Cesaria Évora was born, this documentary offers a musical journey to discover "Sodade" and its legacy. Cesaria Évora, who died in 2011 after a twenty-year career, has allowed Cape Verde to shine throughout the world. The "barefoot diva", considered the queen of the morna has conquered the world and inspired many Cape Verdean artists. The small archipelago, which was for several centuries an important hub of the slave trade has promoted since then an important ethnic mix, which has played an important role in the evolution of local music.
Salim and Sulaiman Merchant are the stars of this documentary celebrating their music, lives and the highs and lows of years of touring.
Conductivity is a film about creative leadership told through the story of three young conductors at the prestigious Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; I-Han Fu (Taiwan), Emilia Hoving (Finland) and James Kahane (France). When stepping on the podium, they are put under a magnifying glass. Conductor training, in essence, is leadership training. The film gives a unique viewpoint to follow the students, as this is the first film about conductor training at the Sibelius Academy.