In 2012, jihadists took control of northern Mali. They imposed one of the strictest interpretations of sharia law in history. On August 12th they banned music - radio stations destroyed, instruments burned and musicians facing torture, even death. Overnight, Mali’s most revered members of society – the musicians – were forced into hiding or exile. This film follows Mali’s musicians as they fight to keep music alive in their country. We witness fierce battles between the army and the jihadists, capture life over borders at refugee camps where money and hope are scarce, follow perilous journeys home to war ravaged cities, and for one band, Songhoy Blues, their path to international stardom.
In his Soundstage special, Brian Wilson performs hits from his illustrious award-winning career as a Beach Boy, as well as selections from his new album No Pier Pressure.
A documentary capturing the creation of the album Junun inside Rajasthan’s 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort. Paul Thomas Anderson follows Jonny Greenwood, Shye Ben Tzur, Nigel Godrich, and the Rajasthan Express as they record a cross-cultural fusion of Indian, Israeli, and Western music.
The Who’s epic 50th Anniversary Tour finale show, recorded at Hyde Park. Experience all the greatest hits including ‘Who Are You’, ‘My Generation’, ‘I Can See For Miles’, ‘Pinball Wizard’, ‘See Me Feel Me’, ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Plus Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Johnny Marr and others share their stories of the band’s history and influence as legendary pioneers of British Rock.
The Lives of Hamilton Fish is a film whose story is told through songs. Two men both named Hamilton Fish were pronounced dead on the front page of a Newspaper in 1936, one was a famous statesman and the other, a notorious cannibal.
Singer/songwriter and single mother Theresa McDermott has finally hit the end of the line in NYC. Unable to make ends meet, she is forced to pack up her life and her 3 girls and move back to the small town and parents she ran from a decade ago. Teresa needs a job, her parents need their space and a family tragedy that was never dealt with from years past needs closure. Old wounds, unattainable dreams and a few other things expose themselves as a fractured family works to become whole and a single mom, a responsible mother.
Paris in the 1920s. Marguerite Dumont is a wealthy woman with a passion for music and the opera. For years, she has performed regularly for a circle of guests. But Marguerite sings tragically out of tune and no one has ever told her. Her husband and her close friends have always encouraged her in her illusions. Things become very complicated the day she gets it into her head to perform in front of a genuine public, at the Opera.
Johnny Cash: American Rebel is built around 12 essential Johnny Cash tracks spanning four decades that each deliver the passion, musicality and messages against war, injustice, racism and prejudice, including “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Jackson,” “San Quentin,” “Man in Black,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Ring of Fire” and “Hurt.” Each song illustrates a chapter in his life, as well the story of an ever-changing America from the 1950s to modern day, as told through interviews, archival concert footage, photographs and personal artifacts from the Cash family.
Arcade Fire’s first feature film is called 'The Reflektor Tapes'. The project is “a unique cinematic experience, meeting at the crossroads of documentary, music, art and personal history.”
Two-time Academy Award® winner Barbara Kopple shines a powerful, inspiring and entertaining spotlight on contemporary soul queen Sharon Jones. As she prepares to release her much-anticipated new album, Sharon comes face to-face with the greatest challenge of her life: a grave cancer diagnosis. Follow this tour de force over the course of an eventful and remarkable year as she struggles to hold her band The Dap-Kings together while battling her way back to the stage with the unstoppable determination of a true soul survivor
Janis Joplin is one of the most respected and iconic rock & roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who captivated millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1970 at age 27. Director Amy Berg explored Joplin's story in depth. A portrait of a complicated, driven and often beleaguered artist. Joplin's own words recount a series of letters she wrote to her family over the years. Janis was a vessel of energy when she sang. Her rapid rise and untimely death changed music forever.
This documentary unveils previously unseen footage of Jimi Hendrix's seminal performance at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival on July 4th, 1970, playing his greatest hits in front of nearly 500,000 people. With interviews from Hendrix and his fellow musicians, including Paul McCartney and Mitch Mitchell, the insight they provide casts a new light into the musician's personality and genius at the juncture of this important cultural gathering, hailed as the 'Southern Woodstock'.
A documentary about the Famous Jeff Healey Club which opened in downtown Toronto, Canada in 2001 until its closure in 2008. The movie tells the story of the Jeff Healey club ,the A- list musicians who played there from around the world and of course the amazing talent that Jeff had as a Blind Musician who never let his disability stop him from doing what he loved most -Music. With interviews with Cristie Healey, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Ronnie Hawkins and others and with rare live performance footage from the club with Jeff Healey, The Jeff Healey Blues Band, Ian Gillan, Jimmy Bowskill, Watermelon Slim and many more.
Sky Arts presents the definitive story of The Jam, one of the most successful British bands in rock history, who were at the forefront of the late 1970s punk-mod scene. Featuring exclusive interviews with Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, and richly illustrated with archive performances, this documentary, directed by Bob Smeaton, traces the band's formation and success between 1975 and 1982, and is set against the backdrop of the ever changing politics, fashion and attitudes that shaped the period of late 70s and early 80s.
Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.