Give Me the Banjo (2011)

Director
Marc Fields

Main cast
Béla Fleck; Dom Flemons; Rhiannon Giddens; Steve Martin; Earl Scruggs

Genres
Documentary, Music

Description
The Banjo Project is a cross-media cultural odyssey: a major television documentary, a live stage/multi-media performance, and a website that chronicle the journey of America’s quintessential instrument—the banjo—from its African roots to the 21st century. It’s a collaboration between Emmy-winning writer-producer Marc Fields and banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka (the Project’s Music Director), one of the most acclaimed acoustic musicians of his generation.


Similar movies

Jerry Garcia, legendary lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead and David Grisman, virtuoso mandolinist and founder of "Dawg" music… Now, for the first time ever, the musical matrimony and extraordinary friendship of Garcia and Grisman is traced in the award-winning documentary Grateful Dawg.
In November 2009, filmmaker Cameron Crowe began filming a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the album The Union, a collaboration between musicians Elton John and Leon Russell, who hadn't spoken to one another in 38 years prior to beginning work on the album. In addition, the documentary offers a rare glimpse into the process John goes through to create and compose his music. Featured in the film are musicians Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Booker T. Jones, steel guitarist Robert Randolph, Don Was and a 10-piece gospel choir who all contribute to the album, which is produced by award-winning producer T-Bone Burnett. Musician Stevie Nicks and John's long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin also appear.
A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.
John Lennon, David Bowie, Julian Lennon, and Yoko Ono Lennon are featured in this portrait of the life of musician John Lennon. A documentary about former Beatle John Lennon, narrated by Lennon himself, with extensive material from Yoko Ono's personal collection. This feature-film biography of the legendary rock musician includes previously unseen footage from Lennon's private archives, as well as interviews with his first wife Cynthia, second wife Yoko Ono and sons Julian and Sean. Narrated in Lennon's own voice, IMAGINE was taken from the 240 hours of personal film and video from the star's private collection. Directed by Andrew Solt (who is also responsible for the rockumentary THIS IS ELVIS,) this unique film gives fan a look at the enigmatic, innovative, and often changing pop revolutionary that is unavailable anywhere else.
A film crew follows the well-known banjo player Bela Fleck on his travels to Africa, where he learns about the instrument's origins.
The story of how the classic album "Paranoid" was made, with stories from band members to those who were influenced by its content, form and vitality. Paranoid is the second studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, it was the band's only LP to top the UK Albums Chart until the release of 13 in 2013. Paranoid contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK charts. It is often regarded as one of the most quintessential and influential albums in heavy metal history.
2008's critically acclaimed debut album by The Airborne Toxic Event propelled the group onto a world wide stage. They sold hundreds of thousands of albums. Their hit 'Sometime Around Midnight' was named iTunes #1 Alternative Song of the Year. After two years of selling out concerts around the world, the band finished by coming home and playing the most important show of their career. The LA Philharmonic asked the band to curate/perform their own show at the most prestigious musical building in the world, Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. All I Ever Wanted is not a concert film, it's a documentary about the struggles, pain and persistence of being in a family. This family happens to be a rock band.
'Roots Rock Reggae' depicts an unforgettable moment in Jamaica's history when music defined the island's struggles and immortalised its heroes. Director Jeremy Marre films Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry record in his legendary Black Ark studio with The Upsetters. Jimmy Cliff rehearses with Sly and Robbie, while Inner Circle's historic live gig is recorded on the violent Kingston streets. The legendary Abyssinians harmonise their haunting Rastafarian songs; Joe Higgs (formerly Bob Marley's teacher) plays and talks; majestic toaster U Roy raps alongside The Mighty Diamonds, and Third World record in a Kingston studio. There is also early archive footage of Toots and the Maytals, and Haile Selessie's royal visit to Jamaica while police and thieves battle it out on the streets, and the ghettos erupt in violence. 1977: An extraordinary year for Reggae music...
"Man in the Sand" is a 1999 music documentary that chronicles the collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, which involved the musicians creating new music to accompany lyrics that were written decades earlier by folk singer Woody Guthrie. The project, which was organized by Woody's daughter Nora, spawned two albums: "Mermaid Avenue," released in 1998, and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II," released in 2000.
Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive, this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved: from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the ‘Thin White Duke’. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let’s Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, David Bowie - Five Years presents a unique account of why Bowie has become an ‘icon of our times’. Produced and directed by Francis Whately
A beautiful expression of two differing cultures brought together by the warmth and dedication of a great musician and humanitarian. In 1979, as China re-opened its doors to the West, virtuoso Isaac Stern received an unprecedented government invitation to tour the country.
Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings is a compelling portrait of an inspiring and inventive musician whose virtuoso skills on the ukulele have transformed all previous notions of the instrument’s potential. Through intimate conversations with Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row), Life on Four Strings reveals the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the musician. On the road from Los Angeles to New York to Japan, the film captures the solitary life on tour: the exhilaration of performance, the wonder of newfound fame, the loneliness of separation from home and family.
Bill Wyman, former bassist for The Rolling Stones, is your host for this documentary which offers a detailed look at the history of blues music. Bill Wyman: Blues Odyssey follows the rise of the blues in America as it travels from the Mississippi Delta and the Deep South to the big cities of New Orleans and Chicago, and then crosses the ocean to England, where the U.K.'s nascent rock 'n' roll scene helped spark a new interest and appreciation for the music. Bill Wyman: Blues Odyssey features performance footage of such legendary artists as Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The 135-minute DVD special from the 3 part miniseries that aired on The Hub in 2010. It combines performances from the smash hit tour with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. Follow Taylor all the way from her early home videos to her 2010 gala performance.
In 2012 two members of anarchistic female band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in a Mordovian labor camp for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". Russian film collective Gogol’s Wives follow each step of the feminist punk band’s battle against Putin including their first disruptive performances on a trolley bus, shooting a video about transparent elections, a controversial performance in a Red Square cathedral, and footage shot in a jail cell. Support comes from many corners including Madonna who painted the words "Pussy Riot" on her back and wore a balaclava during her Moscow show. The documentary portrays the grim state of present-day Russia, a country starkly divided between conservatism and anarchy. Pussy Riot believes that art has to be free and they're willing to take it to extremes. "Pussycat made a mess in the house," they say, and the house is Russia. The filmmakers do not seek to moralize, they simply edit events and leave viewers to draw their own conclusions.
In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West's most maligned musical genre - heavy metal - has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West - they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.
In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.
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.
Blind blues musician Paul Pena is perhaps best known for his song "Jet Airliner". In 1993, Pena heard Tuvan throat singing over his shortwave radio and subsequently taught himself how to reproduce these extraordinary sounds. This documentary follows him to Tuva, where he takes part in a throat singing competition.
The Urethra Chronicles is a video biography about the popular California-based pop/punk band, blink-182, and a look into their lives from their beginnings to the "Enema of the State" era.
The Urethra Chronicles II is a documentary that follows lives of blink-182 during the "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" era.
Bring On The Night is a 1985 documentary film, that focuses on the jazz-inspired project and band led by the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career. Some of the songs, whose recording sessions are featured in the film, appeared on his debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Each musician in the band, through the course of the film is interviewed. [Tracklist:] 01 Bring On The Night 02 News Conference 03 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free 04 Low Life 05 Fortress Around Your Heart 06 Love Is The Seventh Wave 07 The Flintstones 08 Another Day 09 Shadows In The Rain 10 Consider Me Gone 11 Driven To Tears 12 The Big Risk 13 Opening Night 14 Shadows In The Rain 15 Fortress Around Your Heart 16 We Work The Black Seam 17 I Burn For You 18 Children's Crusade 19 Need Your Love So Bad 20 Roxanne 21 Russians 22 I Been Down So Long 23 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free 24 Demolition Man 25 Message In A Bottle
In 1989, a collective of young artists gathered at a non-descript health food store in gang-infested South Central Los Angeles. Their mandate? To explore the musical boundaries of hip hop and reject gangster rap. THIS IS THE LIFE chronicles the rise and fall of this "family" of African-American street poets, while examining their obstacles to commercial success. They all took different paths but remain connected by the music they made, the alternative hip hop movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the art form.
Fresh Dressed chronicles the history of Hip-Hop | Urban fashion and its rise from southern cotton plantations to the gangs of 1970s in the South Bronx, to corporate America, and everywhere in-between. Supported by rich archival materials and in depth interviews with individuals crucial to the evolution of a way of life--and the outsiders who studied and admired them--Fresh Dressed goes to the core of where style was born on the black and brown side of town.
MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American grunge band Nirvana. It features an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993 for the television series MTV Unplugged. As opposed to traditional practice on the television series, Nirvana played a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs. 1. About A Girl 2. Come As You Are 3. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam 4. The Man Who Sold The World 5. Pennyroyal Tea 6. Dumb 7. Polly 8. On A Plain 9. Something In The Way 10. Sweet Home Alabama 11. Plateau 12. Oh Me 13. Lake Of Fire 14. All Apologies 15. Where Did You Sleep Last Night
This program takes a track by track look at the making of the album. We speak to Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage who lead us through the original multitrack tapes. Joe and Phil play acoustic versions of 'Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Hysteria," and Sav and Phil demonstrate riffs and licks from the songs, and explain the genesis of the songwriting. Features songs: Animal, Rocket, Love Bites, Hysteria, Women, Armageddon It, and Pour Some Sugar On Me. In this episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series, the surviving members of Def Leppard discuss the making of HYSTERIA as they sort through and explain the original multi-track tapes. In addition, some impromptu acoustic performances and musical demonstrations further dissect this classic album
TV Special. 13 Classic Acoustic and Live Tracks Recorded in Paris, Tokyo, Amsterdam and London during 1995 European Tour.
Sunken Treasure follows Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy on his February 2006 solo acoustic tour. The footage was recorded over five nights and features songs from three of his current and former bands: Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, and Loose Fur, plus an unreleased track, "The Thanks I Get." The film is directed by documentarians Christoph Green and Brendan Canty, himself the former drummer of Fugazi.
A documentary that follows the former Tonight Show. Filmed during Conan’s ”Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” comedy tour, after his departure from the Tonight Show, takes viewers into an intimate journey of O’Brien’s life.
Jumpers for Goalposts brings together Ed’s captivating performances from the biggest shows of his career at Wembley Stadium in July 2015, where he wows the 80,000 strong crowd with his biggest hits to date, including “The A Team”, “Sing” and “Thinking Out Loud” – and there’s even a surprise duet from Sir Elton John. As well as his breath-taking onstage performance, Jumpers for Goalposts is intercut with the story of Ed’s triumphant road to Wembley, presenting a revealing and personal glimpse into life backstage and on the road, along with an honest and intimate reflection by Ed – and those closest to him – on just how far he has come.
Twenty-three years after the release of the original Beatles mockumentary, 'The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash', famous artists, actors and musicians speak out on how The Rutles influenced them.
ReGeneration is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Phillip Montgomery that looks at the issues facing today's youth and young adults, and the influences that contribute to America's current culture of apathy toward to political and social causes.
Werner Herzog’s documentary film about the “Grizzly Man” Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man’s attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.
Around the calendar and around the world, "Endless Winter" follows skiers and snowboarders enjoying epic snow conditions form Alaska to Argentina and Jackson Hole to Japan. Soar with the world's best aerialists at the Nissan Freestyle Exhibition at Breckenridge, Colorado; heli-ski in bottomless powder at Mike Wiegele's in Blue River, British Columbia; and free ski with Olympic Gold Medalist Tommy Moe in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Visit the quintessential Alpine village of Ischgl, Austria; challenge the super-steeps of Las Leñas, Argentina; and trek across Bolivian glaciers above 19,000 feet. "Endless Winter" closes in Valdez, Alaska with the most stirring and unforgettable snowboarding segment ever filmed.
In Japan’s crowded archipelago, there are still places where nature thrives – and Japan has a surprisingly vast range of landscapes, from the far north, where sea eagles walk on frozen seas, to subtropical southern islands, with coral reefs and volcanoes, and the central islands, with forested mountains, home to bears and monkeys. This series explores how life survives across these islands, and how humans and wildlife have found ways to live alongside the forces of nature and embrace them in quintessential ways.
A film about the tall actor who was most famous for playing the quintessential villian for Charles Chaplin's Tramp character.
A full-length documentary that follows the history of Captain America from 1941 to present and explores how “Cap” has been a reflection of the changing times and the world he has existed in throughout the years. fans will hear from various Marvel luminaries including Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Jeph Loeb, Louis D’Esposito, Chris Evans and Hayley Attwell, as well as family members of Cap’s creators. “Marvel’s Captain America: 75 Heroic Years” will also unveil an exclusive announcement from Marvel comics.
The life and career of renowned magician and sleight of hand artist Ricky Jay.
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is a feature-length documentary film about the dismal commercial failure, subsequent massive critical acclaim, and enduring legacy of pop music's greatest cult phenomenon, Big Star.
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.
Generation Iron - examines the professional sport of bodybuilding today and gives the audience front row access to the lives of the top 7 bodybuilders in the sport as they train to compete in the world's most premiere bodybuilding stage - Mr. Olympia.
The Golden Temple - Olympic Regeneration of East London.
Jerry Ross Barrish sees the beauty in—and creates the unexpected out of—discarded materials. The son of hard-working Jewish immigrants with crime-family connections, Barrish worked for 50 years as a bail bondsman, much of it for radical protesters. He stumbled into acclaim as a filmmaker, earning the Museum of Modern Art’s prestigious New Director distinction and winning major European awards along the way. Then one day, inspiration struck as he picked up plastic trash on a beach, leading him to launch a whole new career as a sculptor. Though acclaimed by curators, he long went virtually unnoticed in the commercial-art realm. But at age 75, the unassuming Barrish may finally be on the verge of success, as William Farley’s engaging documentary goes to show. Seeing the playfulness of his pieces, you’ll understand why: with artificial materials, he has managed to capture real life. -Denver Film Society
First Descent is a 2005 documentary film about snowboarding and its beginning in the 1980s. The snowboarders featured in this movie (Shawn Farmer, Nick Perata, Terje Haakonsen, Hannah Teter and Shaun White with guest appearances from Travis Rice) represent three generations of snowboarders and the progress this young sport has made over the past two decades. Most of the movie was shot in Alaska.
Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture. Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity. Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building –persistently and perversely credited to her mentor–her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications. But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed. Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.
Finding love is never easy. For Ravi Patel, a first generation Indian-American, the odds are slim. His ideal bride is beautiful, smart, funny, family-oriented, kind and—in keeping with tradition—Indian (though hopefully raised in the US). Oh, and her last name should be Patel because in India, Patels usually marry other Patels. And so at 30, Ravi decides to break up with his American girlfriend (the one who by all accounts is perfect for him except for her red hair and American name) and embark on a worldwide search for another Patel longing to be loved. He enlists the help of his matchmaker mother, attends a convention of Patels living in the US and travels to wedding season in India. Witty, honest and heartfelt, this comedy explores the questions with which we all struggle: What is love? What is happiness? And how in the world do we go about finding them?
Part memoir, part city symphony, part noir-ish B-movie adventure, the new feature from critically acclaimed film-making duo João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (To Die Like a Man) is a sensual, shape-shifting ode to one of the world's most mythic, alluring and exoticized cities.
Facebook is for “old people” and baggy pants are almost vintage. We are the generation that now has to learn to fit in the shoes of grown-ups. We are the generation "not-as-young-as-we-thought-we-were" - Y. This documentary tells our journey through the different generations and which milestones our lives hold from the viewpoint of a modern "social and connected" society. We met people of the generations before and after us, to find out what matters to them, what unites them and also divides them. We talked about communication, family, work and aging. We learned about ways of life, dreams and goals. This isn’t just a movie about generations. This is a movie about finding one’s place. This is a movie about growing up, growing old and everything in between. This is a movie about life.
The Captains Summit documents the first time in Star Trek history that four stars who at some point have played Captains in Star Trek (William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes) have been brought together for a 70-minute rare and unprecedented round table event. Whoopi Goldberg, star of Star Trek: The Next Generation, hosts the event.
In the shady campgrounds of Yosemite valley, climbers carved out a counterculture lifestyle of dumpster-diving and wild parties that clashed with the conservative values of the National Park Service. And up on the walls, generation after generation has pushed the limits of climbing, vying amongst each other for supremacy on Yosemite's cliffs. "Valley Uprising" is the riveting, unforgettable tale of this bold rock climbing tradition in Yosemite National Park: half a century of struggle against the laws of gravity -- and the laws of the land.
It takes two or three generations for the monarch butterfly to reach the Canadian breeding grounds, but it is one "supergeneration" that makes the 2,000 mile return trip back south into central Mexico. The documentary film covers Dr Fred Urquhart's interest in monarch butterflies, with perspectives of Urquhart as a child wondering where the butterflies went, his years of research and study into their life and migration, to his time decades-later as a senior scientist looking back at his investigations and discoveries about the insect's life pattern.
The made-for-cable documentary film The Real Eve is predicated on the theory that the human race can be traced to a common ancestor. The mitochondrial DNA of one prehistoric woman, who lived in Africa, has according to this theory been passed down from generation to generation over a span of 150,000 years, supplying the "chemical energy" to all humankind.
Invisible Empire is all conspiracy and no theory – proving beyond doubt how the elite have openly conspired to insidiously rule the globe via the engines of the CFR, the United Nations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg group, which were born out of the historical Round Table groups first set up by Cecil Rhodes. The film traces the lineage of the evolution of global governance from Samuel Zane Batten’s 1919 manifesto New World Order, through to Hitler’s vision of a 1000 year Reich, to the modern incarnation of the conspiracy which has its roots in the evil deeds of people like George H. W. Bush, David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger.
Over the course of a year, film follows Vancouver Pride Society president Ken Coolen to various international Pride events, including Poland, Hungary, Russia, Sri Lanka and others where there is great opposition to pride parades. In North America, Pride is complicated by commercialization and a sense that the festivals are turning away from their political roots toward tourism, party promotion and entertainment. Christie documents the ways larger, more mainstream Pride events have supported the global Pride movement and how human rights components are being added to more established events. In the New York sequence, leaders organize an alternative Pride parade, the Drag March, set up to protest the corporatization of New York Pride. A parade in São Paulo, the world's largest Pride festival, itself includes a completely empty float, meant to symbolize all those lost to HIV and to anti-gay violence.
Previously untold story of the unlikely Irish roots of the worldwide surfing phenomenom
Burroughs: The Movie is the first and only documentary to be made about and with the full participation of writer William S. Burroughs. Howard Brookner began shooting the film in 1978 as his senior thesis at NYU; with Burroughs’ cooperation it subsequently expanded into a feature completed 5 years later in 1983. The film was shot by Tom DiCillo and the sound was recorded by Jim Jarmusch; both NYU classmates. In a collaboration between Burroughs and director Howard Brookner the film explores Burroughs’ life story along with many of his contemporaries including Allen Ginsberg, Brion Gysin, Francis Bacon, Herbert Huncke, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, and Lauren Hutton. Burroughs: The Movie documents Burroughs’ long, controversial and productive life in great detail, film traveling from the American Midwest to North Africa, through defining moments of his wildly unconventional life, including several personal tragedies, charting the development of Burroughs’ unique literary style.
Tally Brown, New York is a 1979 documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film is about the singing and acting career of Tally Brown, a classically trained opera and blues singer who was a star of underground films in New York City and a denizen of its underworld in the late 1960s. In this documentary, Praunheim relies on extensive interviews with Brown, as she recounts her collaboration with Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and others, as well as her friendships with Holly Woodlawn, and Divine. Brown opens the film with a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" and concludes with "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide." The film captures not only Tally Brown’s career but also a particular New York milieu in the 1970s. (Wikipedia)
In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science. In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress to become more enlightened and more tolerant.
An eclectic mix of activists take a stand to protect an old growth forest from logging at Warner Creek in the Willamette National Forest of Oregon, blockading the logging road and repelling the State Police. Over months a community builds around the illegal blockade as it develops into the Cascadia Free State and similar actions spread across the region. Years after its release, Pickaxe has become a classic document of the potential for grassroots direct action to achieve victory against the forces of both government and big business. Lovingly crafted by the participants themselves, the film expertly presents every moment, from confrontation to celebration.
Socalled, aka Josh Dolgin, is the most supreme klezmer hip-hop funk artist in the world. A pianist, singer, rapper, accordion player, and magician, he's a demented Renaissance man and a multi-cultural mixmaster. THE SOCALLED MOVIE is a kaleidoscopic portrait which compiles 18 short films that display his electrifying craft and deep-rooted sense of history. Combining traditional Yiddish songs with funk, rap and everything in between, his tunes are densely layered tapestries of dizzying complexity. His encounters with legendary trombonist Fred Wesley (a key member of James Brown's bands) and klezmer hero David Krakauer are revelatory meetings of the mind, while his re-discovery of pianist Irving Fields turns the elder statesman into a YouTube phenomenon. With offbeat wit, intimacy and virtuoso performances, THE SOCALLED MOVIE is an enthralling documentary that shows how music can break down the boundaries that divide our world.

© Valossa 2015–2024