Directed by Chris Marker • Documentary • 1989 • 26 minutes
“The word was music before all else” -- Angelique Ionatos
What defines music? Soldiers marching in tandem create rhythms; Orthodox priests don’t simply speak when performing the liturgy, they chant and sometimes sing; the hammer banging on a board is not that different from the tug of a rope ringing a church bell.
In Greek mythology, Athena (whose symbol is the owl) invents music. This episode focuses primarily on composer Iannis Xenakis and singer Angelique Ionatos, as they delve into the multi-faceted natures of music, its intimate connection with the rhythms of the natural and human worlds, and the interface between technology, natural sound, and musical composition.
Directed by Joe Angio • Documentary • With Fred Armisen, Jonathan Franzen, Mary Harron • 2014 • 96 minutes
Revenge of the Mekons charts the unlikely career of the genre-defying collective notorious for being—as rock critic Greil Marcus notes—“the band that took punk ideology most seriously.” Bor...
Directed by Mark Becker • Documentary • With Carmelo Muñiz Sánchez • 2005 • 84 minutes
More than just a documentary dispatch from the illegal immigration frontlines, Mark Becker's Romántico evolves from a verite view of undocumented alien subculture to a deeply personal, "beautifully realized" (...
Directed by Allan Miller • Documentary • 1995 • 77 minutes
This inspirational documentary deservedly earned a 1995 Academy Award nomination. Divorced mother Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras taught music in the New York City school system until the budget ax eliminated her job. Dedicated to music and he...
