WINNER · DOCUMENTARY AWARD · LONDON FILM FESTIVAL In 1977, racist rhetoric divides Britain. What happens when a punk fanzine challenges the status quo? With the exploding punk scene in Britain clashing with the growth of the xenophobic National Front in the late 1970s, and famous musos making anti-immigration statements on stage, a group of …
Born from the LA punk scene, The Go-Go’s were an all-girl band who played their own instruments, wrote their own songs and made their own rules. The perfect fit for the rise of MTV, they were all attitude and colour, with hits like We’ve Got The Beat, Our Lips Are Sealed, and Vacation breaking new …
David Byrne and Spike Lee burn down the house in this once in a lifetime collaboration. A timely, earnest, and joyous experience, American Utopia is an inviting, celebratory concert documentary – blending song, speech, dance, and film. Recorded at New York City’s Hudson Theatre, David Byrne is joined by a cast of 11 musicians, vocalists, …
Shot in the stark black and white of a xeroxed night club flyer, Beats is an energetic, nostalgic flashback to 1990’s Scotland, set over one last night out as new laws now criminalise youth culture and those found ‘gathering around repetitive beats’ of the housing commission’s thumping underground electronic dance music uprising. Against this backdrop, …
Winner · Festival Director’s Award · Cinetopia Film Festival. Think there’s only one way to play “Stairway to Heaven”? Think again. Akio Sakurai can perform distinct note-for-note versions from any era of Led Zeppelin you’d care to name, down to the specific bootleg recording. For 35 years Sakurai was a Tokyo salaryman by day, and …
From the schvmmm of a lightsaber to the swell of an orchestral score, the power of sound lies at the heart of cinema. This is a history lesson that will exhilarate even the most seasoned cinephile. Director Midge Costin (a feature film sound editor for over 25 years) and her crew of predominantly female film …
Step inside the doors of Carmine Street Guitars and you step out of time; from the increasingly gentrified streets of NYC’s West Village, and into an oasis, where the bones of old New York still hum. A quiet place devoted to artistry, craftsmanship, and music, Rick Kelly is the owner and master luthier. Crafting electric …
During the doldrums of the Thatcher years, there’s not much for a bright UK teenager to do in the drab factory town of Luton, England, except plot how to get out. It’s worse if you, like Javed (Viveik Kalra), are pressured by your embittered workaholic father, worse still if you’re menaced by racist skinheads. But …
Go behind the screams in this delightful documentary about the pains and pleasures of being a Number 1 fan. One Direction, Backstreet Boys, Take That and of course the original boy band themselves, The Beatles. At first glance are hordes of devoted screaming fangirls, but underneath is a passion for music, a catharsis for the …
The ultimate low-key, feelgood comedy, starring Nick Offerman, Toni Collette, Blythe Danner and Ted Danson. When his landlady (Toni Collette) reluctantly raises the rent, Frank’s (Offerman) life choices are pulled into sharp focus, helped along by his friend and local barkeep Dave (Ted Danson) along with his quiet determination to dust off his old music …
