DOC NYC: Films About Music
October 01, 2012
This year, DOC NYC’s lineup features a number of films about music and musicians.
SING ME THE SONGS THAT SAY I LOVE YOU: A CONCERT FOR KATE MCGARRIGLE US PREMIERE In May 2011, family and friends gathered in New York City’s Town Hall Theater to pay tribute to the late, great singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle. A prolific musician, her untimely death shattered not only her family and friends, but legions of fans worldwide. Director Lian Lunson, who met McGarrigle’s son Rufus Wainwright while directing Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man, lovingly brings this story to the screen. The resulting film is part concert (with performances by Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty and others) and part intimate look at a family coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.
Expected to Attend: Lian Lunson, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright
TURNING US PREMIERE The indelible music of Antony and the Johnsons has won the admiration of Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, and others. Turning captures the band in concert collaborating with the filmmaker Charles Atlas, celebrating 13 women taking the stage who, like Antony himself, are not easily categorized personas. Many of them are transgendered, some gay, some straight. All have stories to tell about the hard-won struggle to be themselves, expressed with the transcendent power of Antony’s music.
Expected to Attend: Antony, Charles Atlas
SWEET DREAMS A decade after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Kiki Katese, a pioneering theatre director, founded Ingoma Nshya, the country’s first female drumming troupe, offering healing for women from both sides of the conflict. When Kiki met the owners of Brooklyn’s Blue Marble Ice Cream, she invited them to help Ingoma Nshya open Rwanda’s first local ice cream shop. Sweet Dreams follows this remarkable group of Rwandan women as they create their own unique path to a future of peace and possibility.
Expected to Attend: Rob Fruchtman, Lisa Fruchtman, Special Guests
BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME US PREMIERE The legendary Memphis band Big Star, led by singer Alex Chilton, has been cited as an influence on REM, The Replacements, The Flaming Lips, and countless others—their song “In the Street” even served as the theme for the sitcom That ’70s Show. Yet the band’s short existence has made it obscure to larger musical history. This film tells a story of musical salvation with never-before-seen footage and photos of the group, in-depth interviews, and rousing musical tributes by the bands they inspired.
Expected to Attend: Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori, Jody Stephens, John Fry, Danielle McCarthy
DAVID BROMBERG UNSUNG TREASURE David Bromberg is a musician’s musician who collaborated with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jerry Garcia and other greats. But Bromberg stopped performing publicly in the 1980s and turned to violin making. Director Beth Toni Kruvant, who won acclaim for Heart of Stone about Newark’s Weequahic High School, follows Bromberg as he helps to revitalize an urban community and makes a musical comeback with esteemed friends such as Dr. John and Levon Helm.
Expected to Attend: Beth Toni Kruvant, David Bromberg
DON’T FOLLOW ME (I’M LOST) An intimate “fly on the wall” documentary about iconoclastic rocker Bobby Bare Jr., son of country music legend Bobby Bare, and his struggles dealing with the repercussions of a perpetual life on the road – the constant separation and the disconnect from loved ones back home. This documentary unveils a side of the music industry that most never see. Musicians including My Morning Jacket, Justin Townes Earle, Hayes Carll, David Vandervelde, Blue Giant, Carey Kotsionis, Duane Denison, and Bobby Bare Sr. make appearances in the film.
Expected to Attend: William Miller, Bobby Bare Jr.
ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFE US PREMIERE Jonathan Demme has directed an impressively wide range of music documentaries, from Stop Making Sense to his collaborations with Neil Young. Now he follows his musical passions to Naples, Italy to document an extraordinary gathering of world musicians, led by Enzo Avitabile, the saxophonist and songwriter whose past collaborators include James Brown and Tina Turner. For anyone interested in musical discovery, history and experimentation, this film offers a rich feast.
Expected to Attend: Jonathan Demme
GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION US PREMIERE For the first time, the greatest singer-songwriters, authors and performers from Greenwich Village reflect on how they collectively became the voice of a generation. Through poignant interviews with the likes of Pete Seeger, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, Kris Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Yarrow, Michelle Phillips, and many more, plus rare archival footage and new live performances, Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation tells a story about community, courage and—most importantly—music.
Expected to Attend: Laura Archibald, Pete Seeger, Lucy Simon, Special Guests
JASON BECKER: NOT DEAD YET A guitar prodigy, Jason Becker burst onto the music scene at the tender age of 13, garnering notice from major industry players. In 1991, at age 19, Jason was hired as the lead guitarist in David Lee Roth’s band, the most coveted guitar gig at the time, but he never made it on tour. Doctors diagnosed him with Lou Gehrig’s disease and said he would never make music again, let alone live to see his 25th birthday. Twenty-two years later, without the ability to move or to speak, Jason is alive and making music with his eyes.
Expected to Attend: Jesse Vile
MUSICWOOD WORLD PREMIERE Musicwood is a documentary that needs to be seen by anyone who cares about guitar music. For hundreds of years guitars have been made the same way, but now, that could all change. A band of famous guitar-makers (Bob Taylor, Chris Martin and Dave Berryman of Gibson) travel together into a primeval rain forest. Their mission: negotiate with Native American loggers before it’s too late for acoustic guitars. The result is the funny, complex and heartbreaking story of a profound cultural conflict and a battle over natural resources. Artists featured in the film: Kaki King, Steve Earle, Yo La Tengo, The Antlers, Lampchop, Turin Brakes and Sergius Gregory.
Expected to Attend: Maxine Trump, Bob Taylor, Special Guests
UNDER AFRICAN SKIES Twenty-five years ago, Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album brought international attention to South African music while the country’s black populace still suffered under apartheid. By recording in South Africa, Simon defied the United Nations cultural boycott and became embroiled in controversy. Director Joe Berlinger (Oscar-nominated for Paradise Lost 3) follows Simon as he travels back to South Africa for a reunion concert with the “Graceland” band members and sits down with his former critic Dali Tambo for a probing dialogue about art and politics. Courtesy of A&E IndieFilms.
Expected to Attend: Joe Berlinger
NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOWBUSINESS US PREMIERE For over twenty years, the Wiesenbergers have cultivated the same rituals. The group of twenty mountain singers and their female conductor meet once a week in the local church to yodel. But their world turns upside down when their CDs storm the charts and they are bombarded with concert offers and the opportunity to perform at the World Expo in Shanghai. Set against the Swiss Alps, the sounds of yodeling echo through this story of unexpected show business success.
Expected to Attend: Bernard Weber
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN In the late ‘60s, the Detroit singer known as Rodriguez was considered a Chicano Bob Dylan by his producers. His album “Cold Fact” never took off in the U.S., but unbeknownst to him it became massive hit in apartheid-era South Africa. Decades later, amidst rumors of Rodriguez’s suicide, dedicated South African fans search to learn what happened to their hero. This unforgettable film chronicles their quest and its extraordinary outcome.Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
