Strings Attached

Bird breeders talk about their great passion, bird singing competitions.

A memorable intellectual journey to rediscover Baroque music, from the handmade fabrication of a harpsichord by master luthier Titus Crijnen to the interpretation of several scores by Bach and other Baroque composers by the Spanish ensemble La Reverencia.

A documentary by Michael R. Faulkner, SHU-DE! follows American beatboxer, Shodekeh, as he embarks on a musical journey half way around the world to Kyzyl, Tuva where he collaborates and competes with some of the world's best throat singers. This experiential documentary unfolds amidst the remote and wild landscapes of Tuva in Southern Siberia and includes performances by Kongar-ol Ondar, Alash Ensemble, Tuvan National Orchestra, Annie Lynch (Annie and the Beekeepers), and others.

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 students the finer points of rock 'n' roll. The school's hard-nosed principal is rightly suspicious of Finn's activities. But Finn's roommate remains in the dark about what he's doing.

In Venice Beach, naive Midwesterner JB bonds with local slacker KG and they form the rock band Tenacious D. Setting out to become the world's greatest band is no easy feat, so they set out to steal what could be the answer to their prayers... a magical guitar pick housed in a rock-and-roll museum some 300 miles away.

Janáčkův máj 2004

The pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, BDSM-provocative, techno-punk performance art ensemble Hatari unsurprisingly drew attention to themselves with their performance at the Icelandic qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest. So much so that they won and therefore were allowed to perform at the main event in Tel Aviv. But what now? Should they boycott the event, swallow their idealism, or use their airtime to criticise the host country for their illegal occupation of Palestine? The Icelandic director Anna Hildur joins the boys in the band all the way to the fateful final.

Deloris Van Cartier is again asked to don the nun's habit to help a run-down Catholic school, presided over by Mother Superior. And if trying to reach out to a class full of uninterested students wasn't bad enough, the sisters discover that the school is due to be closed by the unscrupulous chief of a local authority.

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.

In the years before the Second World War, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.

Three young men commit themselves to one of the best summers of their lives...marching in a World Class drum and bugle corps. The bond of brotherhood this organization provides, helps them through both their struggles and their triumphs.

Femmes symphoniques

When two buskers find themselves situated on the same busy street corner, a musical battle ensues when the musicians realise that the lively city isn't big enough for the both of them

Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.

THE WORST OF AMERICAN IDOL brings you all four seasons of the craziest auditions and most bizarre moments in over 2 and 1/2 hours of sidesplitting, jaw dropping splendor. Awful singing, dreadful dancing, questionable fashions, argumentative contestants -- what were these people thinking?

April 5th, 2000... On the heels of their unanimously acclaimed albums "Appalachia Waltz" and "Appalachian Journey", "Appalachian Journey Live In Concert" captures three of the world's most extraordinary musicians live in concert, along with very special guests James Taylor and Alison Krauss, from their sold-out performance at New York City's Avery Fischer Hall.

A 120-participant tableau vivant by Sarah Small.

Every year thousands compete in the world's greatest singing competition - that you've never heard of. AMERICAN HARMONY journeys deep into the ultra-obsessive, zany, and heartfelt world of competitive barbershop singing, where passion is equaled only by raw talent, and the reward is not fame or fortune, but simply victory. The film focuses on four quartets vying to win the International Championships of Barbershop Singing, in what turns out to be the closest and most controversial victory in its 70 year history. Max Q is the heavy favorite - a superstar quartet comprised of former Champions. Looking to upset them is OC Times (The Heart-Throbs), Vocal Spectrum (The Rookies) and Reveille, an aging foursome who that has been together for 30 years. In total, fifty quartets duke it out for the coveted gold medal, while facing the pressures of quartet life - from big egos to brain cancer and everything in between. - Written by Colin King Miller

A documentary story about the participation and victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 by the Ukrainian band Kalush Orkestra.

In this Tribeca Film Festival selection, filmmaker Bruce Broder trains his camera on a crop of talented young jazz musicians as they play their way through the Essentially Ellington high school jazz band competition. Sponsored by the Jazz at Lincoln Center program, the prestigious contest gives the kids the chance to rub shoulders with legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis -- and put their budding improvisational skills to the test.