Few things beat listening to music, but the synthesis of sound and vision means that watching films about it comes a close second. With July bringing a number of high profile works about major recording artists – Amy Winehouse in Amy and the troubled, God-like genius of Beach Boy Brian Wilson in and Love and Mercy – and music as a social movement, Eden, we’ve assembled a short season of interrelated titles that look at the process of musical creation and how it can challenge the political status quo. The films also look at the dichotomy between person and persona and the gulf between recognition and anonymity. The films, in one way or another, also capture something of the survivalist instinct required to keep going in the face of mounting pressure, fractured relationships and challenges that go beyond the rigours of touring and recording.
Previously in this season
Cinema
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Critically acclaimed documentary following Canadian band Anvil, who faded into obscurity in the 1980s. Following a disastrous tour and now in their fifties, Anvil set…
Cinema
20,000 Days on Earth
Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and international cultural icon Nick Cave. With startlingly frank insights and…
Cinema
Industrial Soundtrack for the Urban Decay + Q&A and DJ
Industrial Soundtrack For The Urban Decay is the first film to trace the origins of industrial music, taking you on a journey through the crumbling industrial…
Cinema
Love & Mercy
Director Bill Pohlad's intimate rendering of Beach Boy Brian Wilson illustrates both his musical mastery and the psychological pain it disguised. Dispensing with staid biopic…
Cinema
The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson
The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson confronts our worst nightmares of impending death and turns them upside down. It tells the extraordinary, yet universal story of…
Cinema
The Wrecking Crew
What the Funk Brothers did for Motown, The Wrecking Crew did, only bigger, for the West Coast Sound. Six years in a row in the…