Music Docs
With these music documentaries, you'll find something to satisfy every curiosity - spanning classical, jazz, Bossa Nova, punk rock, rap, and beyond. While there are plenty of recognizable names, you're also bound to make new discoveries.
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12 itemsJazz on Film (collection)
12 items
A selection of films that incorporate jazz into their story. Ranging from Shirley Clarke's The Connection, a play within a play within a jazz concert, to portraits of jazz musicians like Ornette Coleman and Marcus Miller, these films celebrate and appreciate the music art form.
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And Still I Sing
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...
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Other Music
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... -
East Punk Memories
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...
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We Were Famous, You Don't Remember: The Embarrassment
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 ...
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Glenn Gould: On the Record
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.
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Olancho
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...
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An Apollo Legend
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...
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Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen
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.
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Dream Girls
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...
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Small Wonders
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...
