Hustlers Convention is, in the words of The Hollywood Reporter, a hip-hop history lesson that feels at times like a rap cousin of Searching for Sugar Man. Director Mike Todd (Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears) goes in search of the artist behind the influential 1973 album Hustlers Convention. Interviews include George Clinton, Fab 5 […]
NYC PREMIERE Between 1957 and 1965, former LIFE Magazine photojournalist W. Eugene Smith obsessively photographed and taped the goings-on at the dilapidated Sixth Avenue loft he called home. As revealed in this astonishing WNYC-produced time capsule, what he captured is a treasure trove of NYC jazz of that period, including a three-week rehearsal by the […]
Bernardo Ruiz’s compelling investigation into the human costs of the Mexican drug war, on both sides of the border, reveals the links between the lives and experiences of an activist nun in northern Mexico, a rancher in Texas who used to smuggle marijuana and a US drug enforcement agent on the border. A raw history […]
NYC PREMIERE Havana, Cuba. An up-and-coming singer searches for confidence, a young woman in love longs for motherhood and a veteran of the Revolution comes to terms with the death of her husband. Three women, united by blindness and a desire for independence, guide us through Cuba’s current economic and social landscape while pursuing their […]
NYC PREMIERE Since her death from a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 27, Janis Joplin has been a ubiquitous presence on posters, t-shirts and classic rock radio. This documentary transforms the icon back into a human being. The film excavates unseen material, interviews Joplin’s confidants and uncovers personal letters. The resulting portrait gives us […]
US PREMIERE Sharon Jones is a true soul survivor. She’s been called “the female James Brown” for the energy she brings to the stage backed by her band The Dap-Kings. In Miss Sharon Jones!, we follow her on an emotional journey as she goes through chemotherapy and struggles to mount a comeback show at New […]
NYC PREMIERE An intimate look into the lives of ‘Unlocking the Truth’, an up and coming heavy metal band who’s members are middle schoolers between the ages of 11 & 12. Follow them as they rehearse in a cramped basement after school, talk about their life styles and how others in school view them, right up […]
NYC PREMIERE Andrew & Wendy is a 30 minute documentary film that tells the story of a New York upper West Side couple at a crisis point. Andrew, who is in a coma, is not responding to anything and his prognosis is frighteningly bleak. Wendy’s inspired idea to play Bach for him actually brings him […]
Celebrating mentorship as much as music, Alan Hicks’s inspirational and poignant film explores the common bonds between a 92-year-old jazz legend and his 23-year-old protégé. In his storied career, Clark Terry has played with luminaries like Count Basie and Duke Ellington, and counts Quincy Jones and Miles Davis among his past pupils. Now, as he […]
During the fertile early years of Drew Associates following the breakthrough of Primary, came this seldom-seen portrait of David Allen, a jazz trumpeter struggling in the Santa Monica drug rehabilitation center Synanon House. Pennebaker’s love of music drew him to David and the film prefigures later portraits such as Dont Look Back. He teamed with […]