Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby

G-Funk

2017

G-Funk is the untold story of three childhood friends from East Long Beach who helped commercialize hip hop by developing a sophisticated and melodic new approach – merging Gangsta Rap with elements of Motown, Funk, and R&B.

Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM

2023

Built out of “a pile of radio junk,” Bethesda, Maryland’s WHFS was a music fan’s dream of a radio station: the place on the dial to hear music listeners loved and new tunes they soon would, all with an anything-goes mentality and an ear for the sounds of social change. This doc pays loving tribute to free-form radio and WHFS’s influence over FM stations across the US from the 1960s to the 1980s. All good things come to an end, and so did the disc-jockey-driven format that WHFS pioneered and made successful, but its legacy lives on. The station’s DJs relate its history with passion in this film that captures the tenor of an era, abetted by reminiscences of performers including Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Jesse Colin Young, and others whose music found its way to ears and minds eager for something more than the same old Top 40 programming.

The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane

2023

For decades, Barbara Dane lent her stellar singing voice to social-justice movements in the Bay Area and beyond, garnering an impressive FBI file along the way. Deeply respected by fellow luminaries in folk, blues and jazz, Dane built a far-reaching legacy with music, activism, and love. As Maureen Gosling’s celebratory portrait reveals, early solidarity with those suffering racial and economic injustice sparked Dane’s passion to use her talent to sustain marginalized people. Rather than chase stardom, she followed her own maternal instincts to root herself and her family among generations of activist performers. Bonnie Raitt, Jane Fonda and other notables attest to Dane’s unique way of shaping and being shaped by tumultuous social revolutions from the 1950s on. Nearing 90, Dane triumphantly tours with piano virtuoso Tammy Hall to celebrate a life of staying awake and connected, true to her ideals. One star among many illuminates so much.

Rachmaninoff Revisited

2020

Western Stars

2019

The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.

Ludwig van Beethoven

1954

Documentary on the master composer, from a GDR point of view.

Deep Purple: From Here To Infinite

2017

Feature length documentary about the story behind the pioneering and influential British heavy metal band as they enter the studio to record their new album.

El Cabrero: el canto de la sierra

1988

Documentary portrait of José Domínguez Muñoz, better known as "El Cabrero" (French for "the goatherd"), Spanish libertarian flamenco singer born in Aznalcóllar, province of Seville, in 1944 and filmed over two weeks in 1988 in Seville, Aznalcóllar, La Carbonería de Sevilla and Marinaleda, and in concert at a recital in Bayonne. Politically committed, El Cabrero defines himself as a libertarian. Since the 1970s, he has been close to the anarchist movement. For many years, he was a member of the anarcho-syndicalist Confédération Nationale du Travail.

Dust Radio: A Film About Chris Whitley

2017

A look at the work, life and eventual death of singer-songwriter Chris Whitley, whose many albums (on both major and indy labels) received universally good reviews, earning him a fan base among top tier musicians and journalists; though never bringing sustained mainstream success.

Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands

2024

Highlights boy bands and their rise — and fall — to fame, from The Beatles to Jackson 5 to the Jonas Brothers and One Direction, as well as the K-pop group Seventeen.

Our Hearts – One Sound

2022

A great symbiosis of music and documentary film which creates a true-to-life impression of the sense of community what singing in a choir means. Their film finds humanity in art and magic in music. A moving and immersive cinematic experience of great warmth, emphasizing the unstoppable power of community in times of isolation and understanding how music brings people together.

Stockholm Syndrome

2021

Stockholm Syndrome chronicles the meteoric rise of contemporary trendsetter A$AP Rocky, capturing the exuberance of youth and urgency of hip-hop in equal parts, before taking a detour into darkness. With amazing access, the film reveals Rocky’s experience with the inequities of the Swedish judicial system and the dangers of stardom and scapegoating through a series of twists and turns, ultimately paralleling the need for prison reform in our own backyard. Directed by The Architects, the film blends archival footage with contemporary interviews, animation, and electrifying live concert footage to tell the astonishing story of how one of rap’s biggest superstars became embroiled in an international incident, leading to an unexpected political awakening.

Orlando

2024

With an original staging of text and music, Orlando follows the trail of one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance: Orlando di Lasso (also known as Roland de Lassus). His life and masterful oeuvre continue to move people to this day. Although he was a European star at the time, di Lasso had to endure the indignities of his social status as a servant. This documentary explores the relationship between art and power, musically accompanied by the ensemble La Tempête.

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

2005

The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

2021

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.