At the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, stage director David Hermann and music director Christian Zacharias lead a production of Otto Nicolai's 1849 opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, a work that draws its inspiration from William Shakespeare's beloved eponymous play.
In this Eric Porter animation of ‘the grasshopper and the ant’ fable, Willie Wombat lazes and plays all summer. He laughs at his animal mates devoting time to collecting and depositing food in their local bank. Winter arrives and Willie, starving and cold, tries to withdraw food from the bank. The teller can find no record of any deposits for Willie. Dejected, Willie looks on as the other animals eat heartily and stay warm in their cosy homes. Willie collapses from hunger in the snow, but his friends come to the rescue just in time. The following summer Willie, having learned his lesson, deposits food in the bank with dedication and enthusiasm.
Silêncio - Vozes de Lisboa (Silence - Voices of Lisbon) is a documentary set amongst the backdrop of a gentrified Lisbon. Following the footsteps of Céline - a local foreigner who has lived in Portugal for 20 years - we are introduced to Ivone Días and Marta Miranda, two female singers from different generations who fight for the survival of their art and their community. Their common language is Fado, a traditional style of music that talks about the daily struggle of living. With the lyrics of fado songs taking us through the story, the film explores the relationship between fado singers and the ever-changing world around them.
In Palestinian East Jerusalem, Singer-Songwriter David Broza records a new album with American, Palestinian and Israeli musicians in defiance of the Middle East's dark realities.
From the Piney Woods School in the Mississippi Delta to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City, this toe-tapping music film tells the story of the swinging, multi-racial all-women jazz band of the 1940s.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.
The battle to revive dying tradition comes to life through the young musicians of Southwest Louisiana in this powerful musical documentary. Amidst shuttered rural dance clubs and encroaching globalization, five Grammy award-winning artists lend their voices, examine the discrimination that almost erased their customs, and share the unique sounds created when the forces of fresh talent and deep history collide to fight for cultural survival.
The arrival of the European button accordion to Texas and its merging with traditional Mexican songs gave birth to an explosive new sound called conjunto. From the early pioneers to the new generation of accordionists experimenting with rock, blues, and metal, ACCORDION DREAMS captures yesterday's and today's squeezebox trailblazers. Produced and directed by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Hector Galan and narrated by singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa, ACCORDION DREAMS features performance footage of conjunto greats like Valerio Longoria, Mingo Saldivar, Ruben Vela, Eva Ybarra, and Flaco Jimenez and the newer generation of accordionists like Joel Guzman, Jaime De Anda, Albert Zamora, and Jesse Turner.
Don’t let the 8- to 12- year- old age range fool you: Color Killer, a head-banging punk group, can bring the noise! But can they overcome in-fighting and jealousies to ace their biggest live performance ever? SNL’s Chris Parnell “counsels” their supportive, roadie/manager parents as the film follows the band during the weeks leading up to The Warped Tour concert in this upbeat, hard-rocking doc that will delight families and music lovers alike.
Birds of Passage presents a lyrical journey through the everyday lives of two young Uruguayan songwriters. Ernesto and Yisela have moved to the capital, leaving behind their respective hometowns on the borders of Brazil and Argentina. After many years of composing songs that reflect their origins, both decide to explore new horizons and each seeks to fulfill the dream of recording a first album. While Yisela struggles to reconcile the emerging possibilities of a career in Uruguay with her plans to move to Argentina, Ernesto confronts personal conflicts that threaten to sabotage his creative passion. The film fuses the arts of documentary film and music, interweaving the songs and stories of these two young composers. With vérité cinematography and an unforgettable soundtrack, Birds of Passage explores the challenges of being a young artist, and the art of searching, inside and outside of oneself.
This creative educational film by Pieter Van Deusen features a variety of percussion instruments performed by noted musicians Bruno Hoffmann, Eric Remsen, and Taranath Rao. The film crew included Les Blank and Skip Gerson. This film was part of a music film series for Churchill Films: Wind Sounds, Percussion Sounds, and an offshoot film by Pieter with Les Blank entitled Christopher Tree.
Two young people discover each other as they explore a labyrinthine derelict Glasgow swimming pool. A high-energy contemporary dance piece shot in the emptied Govanhill Baths in Glasgow.