L7: Pretend We're Dead

A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment

A documentary about the singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt

Drop out of school to ride with the Merry Pranksters. Form America’s most enduring jam band. Become a family man and father. Never stop chasing the muse. Bob Weir took his own path to and through superstardom as rhythm guitarist for The Grateful Dead. Mike Fleiss re-imagines the whole wild journey in this magnetic rock doc and concert film, with memorable input from bandmates, contemporaries, followers, family, and, of course, the inimitable Bob Weir himself.

Documentary that captures Tom Petty and the band in 1982-1983 as they finish, promote, and tour around the “Long After Dark” album (their final with legendary producer Jimmy Iovine). It aired only once on MTV in 1983. After the long lost 16mm reels were finally found, a restored version with 19 minutes of extra footage was released in 2024.

Henry Rollins narrates Lilly Scourtis Ayers' no-holds-barred profile of volatile Bay Area punk legend Marian Anderson, whose hypnotic beauty, devil-may-care rebellion and shocking sexual exploits onstage launched her to infamy before tragically dying of a heroin overdose at the tender age of 33.

Grindcore punks Bamseom Pirates make music suitable for a sick society.

A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.

The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.

With a narrative running deeper than a catchy tune and cryptic verses, “American Pie” is a musical phenomenon woven deep into the history of American culture, entertaining audiences around the world for over 50 years. This documentary tells the stories of the people who were a part of this moment from the beginning, shows the point of view of a new generation of artists who are motivated by the same values and ideas that inspired the song’s creation, and highlights cultural moments in America’s history that are as relevant now as they were in 1971, when the song was released.

The words I promised to Kin-ichi Motegi, 'This is the first and last. I tell you everything about Fishmans without telling a lie.' The friends who made the sound of Fishmans devoted their lives to music. Shinji Sato's way of life is packed in this movie for nearly three hours.

We Were Feared chronicles the rise and fall of the Cuckoo's Nest punk rock club. Hailed as the birthplace of slam-dancing, the Nest famously shared a parking lot with a cowboy bar and the mayhem that would ensue when both clubs emptied was immortalized in the Vandals' songs “The Legend of Pat Brown” and “Urban Struggle.” Featuring interviews with the people who populated the scene, archival images of gigs, and live performances by Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, & T.S.O.L.

An intimate study of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century tracking feminist icon Susan Sontag’s seminal, life-changing moments through archival materials, accounts from friends, family, colleagues, and lovers, as well as her own words, as read by Patricia Clarkson.

The forceful feature-length documentary Journey to Jah by Noel Dernesch and Moritz Springer catches the global phenomenon of crossing borders by documenting the experiences of integration in a foreign culture. The film follows the internationally acclaimed European musicians Gentleman and Alborosie, which found a new spiritual home within the reggae culture while Jamaican singer Terry Lynn takes the other direction integrating European styles into her music.

Pure Comedy is a black and white document of the live tracking of Pure Comedy, as well as a surreal look into Tillman's writing process. A six person crew, complete with cranes in the tracking rooms, captured every moment of the recording, giving the viewer intimate audience to actual album takes, including the one and only 2:00am performance of the 13-minute "Leaving LA."

Mediocre

A confessional, cautionary, and occasionally humorous tale of Robbie Robertson's young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music, The Band.

The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.

A Dutch documentary about the history of the anarchist punk band Crass. The film features archival footage of the band, and interviews with former members Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher.

In 2012 two members of anarchistic female band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in a Mordovian labor camp for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". Russian film collective Gogol’s Wives follow each step of the feminist punk band’s battle against Putin including their first disruptive performances on a trolley bus, shooting a video about transparent elections, a controversial performance in a Red Square cathedral, and footage shot in a jail cell. Support comes from many corners including Madonna who painted the words "Pussy Riot" on her back and wore a balaclava during her Moscow show. The documentary portrays the grim state of present-day Russia, a country starkly divided between conservatism and anarchy. Pussy Riot believes that art has to be free and they're willing to take it to extremes. "Pussycat made a mess in the house," they say, and the house is Russia. The filmmakers do not seek to moralize, they simply edit events and leave viewers to draw their own conclusions.