Britpop Conservation Society

After more than 15 years apart, Oasis reunites for the most anticipated comeback in rock history.

SKY ARTS presents Suede's Coming Up (released on Nude Records in 1996) in the Classic Albums series.

During the 90s, Britpop dominated the airwaves and an epic pop rivalry sparked into life when Blur’s single ‘Country House’ went up against Oasis’s ‘Roll With It’ in the charts.

More than two decades after it left our screens, BBC Two’s iconic and much-loved music documentary series, Rock Family Trees, is back for a one-off special. The iconic music documentary series returns to examine the real story behind the birth of Britpop and how a handful of like-minded musicians, struggling to find an authentic voice, would pave the way for a revolution in British music. It is an intricately connected story of three of the biggest bands of the 1990s – Suede, Elastica and Blur – and how, for a brief moment in the middle of that decade, they changed British music forever, kickstarting a movement that still reverberates to this day.

Tony was the exclusive photographer and video director for Ocean Colour Scene from Moseley Shoals to Marchin' Already, publishing his book 'Soul Driver' in 2014, releasing his feature documentary film 'SCENE' in 2017 and is currently launching his new coffee table 'book of the film' 'Behind the Scene' due for release in Summer 2022.

In August 1995 Blur and Oasis were engaged in a head-to-head chart battle which divided music fans and led to a wider argument about British pop music. John Harris, journalist and author of The Last Party - the definitive study of the entwinement of music and politics in the 1990s - presents a documentary charting the rise of Britpop, its brief romance with New Labour and the emergence of 'new lad' culture. Finally, as Britpop declines, he asks what legacy it has left. Including contributions from Blur's Graham Coxon, Elastica's Justine Frischmann, Sleeper's Louise Wener, former New Labour insider Darren Kalynuk, and the founder of Creation records, Alan McGee.

On 10th and 11th August 1996, 250,000 young music fans converged on Knebworth Park to see Oasis play two record breaking, era defining shows. This version, included on the 'Oasis: Knebworth 1996' Blu-Ray/DVD, was shot on the 10th and was remastered in 2021.

The crisis of modern relations under the onslaught of ominous melodies. An ordinary summer day turned into an unexpected ending for lovers...

Oasis playing two hits, in less than 10 minutes

Blur playing two hits, in less than 10 minutes

Just like in 1985, today Ignacio Agüero is back interrupting filmmakers during shooting, but not to ask what he did thirty years ago, but to find out what is purely cinematographic in what they film. These conversations are related to images in the director's personal archive, as if what is truly cinematographic was found among bits that were never made for the screen.

Under the loving but firm guidance of an old fan turned director and cultural diplomat, and to the surprise of a whole world, the ex-Yugoslavian cult band Laibach becomes the first rock group ever to perform in the fortress state of North Korea.

Newly arrived in town Nat and Gabe accept a dinner invitation from the volatile Hungarian Helene and her boorish husband Sasha. Whilst the other guests, ex-Bananarama member Marty, Angie, who 'makes bullets' and the supposedly suicidal Danny are affable enough, Nat and Gabe are shocked by their hosts' very public rows and Gabe's attempt at peace-making is awkwardly received. Nat is taken aback when virtual stranger Helene confides in her about Sasha's suspected infidelity and Gabe is rudely rebuffed when he tries to have a heart to heart with Sasha. After Helene physically attacks her husband the newcomers are desperate to leave but when Danny drops a bombshell Gabe is torn between responsibility and the easy way out.

Dann gehste eben nach Parchim

Ivan is a retired music teacher in his late 70s, and has grown weary of life. His estranged son never matched up to his expectations anyway, he is still eaten up with jealousy of his brother, who always enjoys life to the full, and - above all - he cannot keep up with the changes around him. He buys himself a plot in a graveyard with an beautiful view of the Alps and checks into a retirement home so he can wait for his death in peace. However, the exact opposite happens: for the first time in his life Ivan starts to actually live.

Tarachime is a documentary film which observes 'life' through childbirth. Kawase Naomi, a film director working under the theme of family, life and death, presents the bond of life through her own childbirth experience. "First, I was planning to film from the day I conceived a child and to the moment I gave birth. But I realized, while filming, that this is not the story of "one life." In the end, the film sublimed to a higher stage on which we can witness the knot tying one life with another."

ABC of a Strike captures the 1979 metal workers strikes outside of São Paulo. The footage sat untouched until after the death of highly-regarded director Leon Hirszman in 1987, by which time the material had a new relevance. The gripping film captures the negotiations between the labor unions and the factory bosses and shows the birth of the region’s Worker’s Party, as well as the emergence of its charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Rising from extreme poverty, Lula gained national prominence as a union activist during the late 70s and early 80s. After being jailed during his time as a union leader, he eventually becomes Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010.

Intermissions follows Lula during the hectic election campaign for the presidency in 2002. Lula gave filmmaker João Moreira Salles and his crew complete access, and the result is an intimate documentary of what went on behind the scenes. Sometimes, Lula is afraid that he will lose his freedom as president. Combined with Lula's candor, the film's observational style provides some very special insight into one of Brazil's most popular leaders.