Téo Frank was just 18 and an aspiring director when he decided to try his luck at filmmaking on the other side of the Atlantic. After a series of encounters and experiences, his trip took a turn when he crossed paths with photographer Mason Strehl in Alaska. Their encounter took him to New York where he got the chance to work with devotees to hip hop, talented artists like Awon Phoniks. From this adventure a documentary was born called UNDERDOGS. Who are the rappers in this film? Téo didn't know them when he began, and never dreamed their encounter would change his life the way it did.
The iconic Korean hip-hop group Epik High debuted in 2003 and has since captivated fans worldwide with their exceptional lyricism and evocative music videos. Now, their 20th-anniversary concert comes to life in a stunning documentary, capturing the raw passion and emotions of these hip-hop poets on stage. Joined by their devoted fans, "High Skool," Epik High sets their sights on an even greater future together.
A multimedia performance including film, live narration and dance, How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere? explores loss and transcendence experienced in human partnerships. Reflecting on his relationship with 102-year-old former sharecropper, carpenter and gardener Walter Carter as well as Andrei Tarkovsky’s science fiction classic, Solaris, Lemon and 6 dancers create a performance which arcs from turbulent physicality to restorative grace.
A documentary about the Swedish rapper and artist Silvana Imam.
Released on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection's "Martha Graham: Dance on Film" collection.
The story of hip hip behind the iron curtain.
A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.
After 'Skepta: Top Boy' and 'Noisey Blackpool' comes our latest UK documentary - Don’t Call It Road Rap hosted by legend of UK music, Mike Skinner. 'Don’t Call It Road Rap' was filmed around London over a year, investigating the explosion of UK rap and follows some of the most important MCs as they try to focus on music and keep their lives on a positive track. The film features the likes of Section Boyz, C Biz, 67, Corleone, Potter Payper and Skore Beezy.
Film about the town of Penge featuring local personalities, housing, shopping, traffic and the Penge formation dancers.
Nerdcore Rising is a documentary/concert film starring MC Frontalot and other nerdcore hip hop artists such as mc chris, Wheelie Cyberman of Optimus Rhyme and MC Lars, with contributors from such as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Prince Paul and Brian Posehn. It combines interviews about nerdcore and its origins with footage of MC Frontalot's 2006 Nerdcore Rising national tour.
This short documentary profiles the traditional music and pageantry of Polish-Canadians in Manitoba. The heritage and national traditions of Poland were brought to Canada by immigrants and sustained across generations. The colourful traditional dress and lively music of Polish-Canadians is captured by ethnomusicologist Laura Boulton, a pioneering woman in the educational documentary film movement whose goal was to “capture, absorb, and bring back the world’s music.”
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.
Documentary about the Wu-Tang Clan.
A documentary that explores the roots of Genge, a new hybrid of modern hip-hop beats and traditional Kenyan musical elements.
This VHS video includes two short documentaries by Elda Hartley. In the first, THE ART OF MEDITATION, Alan Watts gives us techniques and advice for meditating. Elda Hartley herself narrates the second film, MEDITATION: THE JOURNEY INWARD, which exposes viewers to different cultural approaches to meditation. Hartley then discusses how meditation enriches one's life, and what it can reveal to us.
A group of underground rap scene kids from South Florida work together to try to become famous rappers but struggle internally with personal issues regarding home life, growing up and their relationship as a group.
Filmed in 1983, during the presentation of Peter Weiss' play at the Fred Barry theater at UQAM. This document exposes us to a play dealing with the Shoah, and its intention to present the medium of video as a specific language.
A documentary depicting the life of American boyband Brockhampton while making their Saturation album series.
Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money. This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.” The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more.
The Finnish modern dancer Noora Hannula dances through this documentary film in her own explosive style. Noora’s life has always been very connected to the artist environment with her grandfather, Simo Hannula, who throughout his entire life dedicated him fully to his art. Noora and her grandfather crossed paths when Noora used a picture of his dead body in her show and now we meet Noora working on her newest show: The Era of No Talent Rising, while she is trying to figure out where her own limits are.