Directed by François Verster • Documentary • 2002 • 54 minutes

It will take anyone in the world no more than a few bars to recognize this song: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, also sung as "Wimoweh”.

The melody has been covered at least two hundred times by artists as diverse as James Last, Henri Sa...

Directed by Robert Mugge • Documentary • With Al Green, Willie Mitchell, Ken Tucker • 1984 • 66 minutes

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AL GREEN looks at Green's transition from hugely successful soul singer to gospel artist and fundamentalist preacher. Filmed in concert in Washington, D.C., in rehearsal in...

Directed by Robert Mugge • Documentary • With Rubén Blades, Linda Ronstadt, Nat Hentoff • 1985 • 82 minutes

THE RETURN OF RUBEN BLADES follows the singer to Harvard, where he gets his master's degree in international law; to his old neighborhood in Panama; to California for a recording session w...

Directed by Wendy Bashi • Documentary • 2021 • 46 minutes

Since October 2014 in Beni (North Kivu) people live in fear in this area of Democratic Republic of Congo. In this hectic and chaotic context, a group of young rappers and musicians dream about glory and success. They call themselves “Libe...

Directed by Ryan Douglass and Sara Leavitt • Documentary • 2015 • 75 minutes

For over 30 years, Martin Bisi has recorded music from his studio in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood. After a chance New York encounter, the studio was founded with money from Brian Eno, who subsequently worked on the a...

Directed by Gio Arlotta • Documentary • With Emmanuel "Jagari" Chanda, Jacco Gardner, Viktor Kasoma • 2019 • 88 minutes

The film follows the 21st Century formation of We Intend To Cause Havoc (W.I.T.C.H.), Zambia’s most popular rock band of the 1970s, and documents the life of its lead singer, J...

Directed by Jonathan Olshefski • Documentary • 2017 • 105 minutes

​Filmed with vérité intimacy for nearly a decade, Quest is the moving portrait of the Rainey family living in North Philadelphia.

Beginning at the dawn of the Obama presidency, Christopher “Quest” Rainey and his wife Christine’a ...

Directed by Fazila Amiri • Documentary • 2023 • 90 minutes

Amidst the United States and Taliban peace negotiations, Afghanistan’s controversial pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors hopeful contestants on the hit singing TV series Afghan Star, including the only two female singers, Zahra E...

Directed by Puloma Basu, Rob Hatch-Miller • Documentary • With Tunde Adebimpe (TV On the Radio), William Basinski (composer), Panda Bear, Avey Tare & Geologist (Animal Collective),
Matt Berninger (The National), Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), James Chance (The Contortions), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Y...

Directed by Peter Sillen • Documentary • With Jesse Bernstein • 2012 • 89 minutes

'I Am Secretly an Important Man' is a portrait of writer and poet Steven J. Bernstein (aka Jesse Bernstein), one of Seattle's most celebrated and troubled voices. His angry, surprisingly fresh and lyrical writings ...

Directed by Lucile Chaufour • Documentary • 2012 • 79 minutes

"You're just a street kid, you'll never be a Party Secretary!"

"Maybe you don't even exist, you don't want this life anymore!"

"Communist drug, no seduction needed!"

When the Hungarian punk band QSS launched into their anthemic son...

Directed by Daniel Fetherston and Danny Szlauderbach • Documentary • With Bill Goffrier, Brent Giessmann, John Nichols, Ron Klaus, Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, Thomas Frank • 2022 • 108 minutes

Ignited by punk’s invasion of the Great Plains, America’s gawkiest and greatest lost rock ...

Directed by Hanley Banks • Documentary • With Bill Callahan • 2014 • 65 minutes

This strikingly shot concert documentary follows enigmatic Drag City singer-songwriter Bill Callahan on a two-week tour from California to New York. For the past 25 years, under both the Smog moniker and under his ow...

Directed by Wolf Koening, Roman Kroiter • Documentary • 1962 • 26 minutes

The story of popular singer Paul Anka. He rose from obscurity to become the idol of millions of adolescent fans around the world. This film takes a candid look at both sides of the footlights as well as the promotion indus...

Directed by Roman Kroiter, Wolf Koening • Documentary • 1959 • 29 minutes

Glenn Gould, renowned Canadian concert pianist, in New York--kidding the cab driver, bantering with sound engineers at Columbia Records; and then, alone with the piano, fastidiously recording Bach's Italian Concerto.

Directed by Chris Valdés and Ted Griswold • Documentary • 2018 • 70 minutes

Olancho is the most lawless province of Honduras, the most murderous country on the planet. Here, the drug trade has taken its toll in human lives and economic damage. But to some musicians, the cartels provide an opport...

Directed by Brian Storm • Documentary • 2008 • 18 minutes

Decades before American Idol and America's Got Talent captured the attention of millons on TV, the world renowned Apollo Theater in Harlem started hosting its popular Amateur Night, which launched the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, James Bro...

Directed by Donald Brittain, Don Owen • Documentary • 1965 • 44 minutes

Produced in 1965, this is an informal portrait of the Montreal poet, novelist and songwriter, Leonard Cohen. He is seen reading his poetry to a rapt audience and also alone, or relaxing with family and friends.

Directed by Kim Longinotto & Jano Williams • Documentary • 1995 • 50 minutes

This fascinating documentary, produced for the BBC, opens a door into the spectacular world of the Takarazuka Revue, a highly successful musical theater company in Japan. Each year, thousands of girls apply to enter the...

Directed by Roman Kroiter, Wolf Koening • Documentary • 1959 • 29 minutes

Canadian concert pianist Glenn Gould enjoys a respite at his lakeside cottage. It is an aspect of Gould previously known only to the collie pacing beside him through the woods, the fishermen resting their oars to hear his ...

Directed by Caroline Leaf • Documentary • 1981 • 27 minutes

Quebec-born singing sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle enjoy international acclaim--for their inimitable style, their talent as songwriters and especially for their unassuming, informal selves! With sister Jane as business manager, Kate a...

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...

Directed by Andrew Horn • Documentary • With Jay Jay French, Dee Snider • 2014 • 134 minutes

In the mid-1970s, Twisted Sister claimed glitter rock for their own, cross-dressing their way to headlining every club within 100 miles of New York City, from New Jersey bowling alleys to Long Island bea...