In 1973, a precocious 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist lands a dream assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with a rising rock band, embarking on a coming-of-age journey as he discovers the exhilarating and heartbreaking realities behind rock stardom.
Ray Davies, the cornerstone of the Kinks, is one of his country’s greatest songwriters. Over four decades he has provided a feast for all comers, regardless of social station, from the simple urgency of ‘You Really Got Me’ to the detached melancholy of “Come Dancing’ . Our film takes a look at a career that has spanned 40 years – we talk to Ray about his work, life and inspirations, featuring his music from the hits of the early 60’s through to work on his new album and upcoming musical ‘Come Dancing’. The programme includes interviews with David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, Bob Geldof, Chris Difford, Clive Davis and journalists, who all show their respect and admiration for a man who is globally celebrated. Our film, illustrated with archive footage, specially shot performances and stills, will give an insight into the unique creative world of one of Britain’s most successful and influential songwriters and performers.
Live footage of Runrig's concerts at Loch Lomond, Edinburgh Castle, their Western Isles tour and throughout Europe in 1991. Songs include: Always The Winner - Solus Na Madainn / The Morning Light - Healer In Your Heart - Every River - Harvest Moon - Hearthammer - Abhainn An t-Sluaigh / The Crowded River - Headlights - Edge Of The World - Alba / Scotland - Instrumental - An Cuibhle Mòr / The Big Wheel - I'll Keep Coming Home - Tear Down These Walls - Pride Of The Summer - Flower Of The West - Loch Lomond - This Beautiful Pain
Achim Bornhak's movie focuses on the restless life of Uschi Obermaier, the icon of the 1968 movement in Germany and groupie. At the age of 16, Uschi is bored by her job in a photo lab, but soon becomes the "it girl" of Munich's club scene. When she gets to know Rainer Langhans, they move to Berlin and live in "Kommune 1", the first politically-motivated commune in Germany. While the other occupants claim she isn't political enough, Uschi just wants to have fun, works as fashion model and leads international music stars in temptation.
In the 1970s, Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. Twenty years on, these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.
Two World War II Veterans reunite for the first time in 70 years after their inaugural voyage on Navy ship LST-218
Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his straight-A students the finer points of rock 'n' roll and the power of sticking it to the man. But as the school’s stern principal closes in and the Battle of the Bands looms, Dewey must risk everything to prove that rock 'n' roll can change lives.
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.
Burning en directo
In this interview, conducted for the Criterion Collection in 2014, Elijah Wald, who collaborated with folksinger Dave Van Ronk on his memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street, discusses the people and places central to New York's Greenwich Village folk scene of the late fifties and early sixties - a scene transformed by the arrival of Bob Dylan.
Swedish rock sensation Backyard Babies have delighted us with a truly breathtaking live recording! ‘Live at Cirkus’ contains 17 hits, all taken from the 2016 Cirkus Theatre concert in Stockholm. Nicke Borg and team are in seriously good shape and can literally make the stage shake. If you’re a fan of Hardcore Superstar, Michael Monroe, the Hellacopters or Buckcherry, then the live performance quality of this band will win you over for sure.
A thorough look at the 90's Turkish rock scene, one legendary stage band and its two members: Kerim Capli and Yavuz Cetin... An inquiry of their existential battles with the society, the industry and their own minds.
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
A single female voice sings of waiting in her garden for her ‘dark-eyed sailor’ to return from war, bearing the other half of their token, a gimmel ring. Three veterans pass on the road as she waits, and she asks them: “When you were fighting in distant lands, did you think of the home you left?” In reply the veterans relate their recollections. The garden images in the accompanying film represent ‘home’, but also stand for a more general possibility of redemption, of the potential of the past to return at any time, disguised and changed, to renew the present: “Each moment of time is a garden gate,” the song goes, “Through it my love may walk.”
A cultural portrait of the American dream at a critical time in the nation’s history. Set against the 2016 American election, The King takes a musical road trip across the country in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls Royce.
Following a childhood tragedy, Dewey Cox follows a long and winding road to music stardom. Dewey perseveres through changing musical styles, an addiction to nearly every drug known and bouts of uncontrollable rage.
Documentary about the blacklisted folk group The Weavers, and the events leading up to their triumphant return to Carnegie Hall.
Martin Scorsese’s electrifying concert documentary captures The Rolling Stones live at New York’s Beacon Theatre during their A Bigger Bang tour. Filmed over two nights in 2006 with an all-star team of cinematographers, the film combines dynamic performances with archival footage and rare glimpses behind the scenes, offering a vibrant portrait of the band’s enduring energy and legacy.
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires - Crossroads Festival
Singing teenagers rally to keep open their local nightclub.