Yesterday and Forever(1985)

Comitiva Esperança(pt)

The Albion Band(en)

A rare 1979 BBC Arena documentary on the Albion Band, Ashley Hutchings and the development of English folk rock up to that time.

Retying the Knot: The Incredible String Band(en)

A profile of the Hippest band of the 60's and 70's as they prepare for a reunion gig.

Louisiana Blues(en)

From the camera of celebrated French documentarians Jean-Pierre Bruneau and Jose Reynes, and in the tradition of The Buena Vista Social Club, comes the exhilarating musical documentary Louisiana Blues. From the backwoods of Baton Rouge to the heart the Big Easy, creole and Cajun music have endured despite years of tumult. This film explores not only the musicians who continue to produce this music, but the climate, culture, and way of life that have shaped them. Innumerable zydeco superstars appear onscreen and deliver legendary performances, including Beau Jocque, D.L. Menard, and Zydeco Joe.

Chaos Kollage(en)

A dazzling display of abstracted images.

Nat Pwe: Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul(en)

In Burma, many people believe in ghost spirits called NATs. They are said to possess the power to assist or devastate the lives of those who recognize them. A PWE is a ceremony held to appease a Nat. Pwes are arranged daily throughout Burma for many purposes including the achievement of success in business, a happy marriage, or improving one's health. A Nat is summoned through a Kadaw; the flamboyant and charismatic master of the Pwe dressed in elegant costume. The Kadaw is a spirit medium, dancer, storyteller, and magician who exposes the crowd to a living incarnation of the Nat brought forth through opening ritual and careful observance of tradition.

Jemaa El Fna: Morocco's Rendezvous of the Dead(en)

Morocco is a land of ingratiating variety and intense contrast. Its people are as diverse as its topography. The cosmopolitan Atlantic coast fuses with the Berber heritage of the northern Rif and Atlas mountain ranges as the ancient Saharan trade routes wind their way from the south into the city of Marrakech, where all points collide, creating a vibrant mixture of the traditional, the exotic and the supernatural.

Folk Music of the Sahara: Among the Tuareg of Libya(en)

Folk music of the Sahara is an intoxicating experience of sight and sound captured among the Tuareg and Libyan people of North Central Africa. Filmed from the perspective of actually being one of the performers, this mind-blowing IN YOUR FACE document captures the spirit of Libyan folklore and the essence of emotion armed with pounding rhythms and wailing vocal choruses. Both men and women are featured here equally as overseers of the hybrid forms of expression where central African traditions collide with the tones and colors of the Arab world creating one of the most unique overviews of Saharan folk music ensemble and dance the outside world has ever witnessed. The diversity of faces is extraordinary, every costume is stunning, and the women are among the most beautiful on earth.

Nightsong(en)

A portrait of the Chicago Near-North nightlife scene in the mid-1960s, centering around the struggles and romantic desires of an African American singer played by long-forgotten folk sensation Willie Wright. (Courtesy Chicago Film Archives)

Rhythm and Sound(mk)

National folk dances performed by "Tanec" folk dancers) from Skopje.

Fleisch ist mein Gemüse(de)

The World of the Seekers(en)

While flying to the first stop on their latest tour, the four members of the Australian music group The Seekers recall in flashback the origins of the group and their rise to success.

Sprout Wings and Fly(en)

Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.

Father John Misty - Live from The Ryman(en)

Father John Misty performs a career spanning setlist at The Ryman in Nashville, TN, during the tour for his 5th studio LP, Chloë and the Next 20th Century

To Hear Your Banjo Play(en)

A short film about Pete Seeger and the birth of banjo music throughout the Southern United States.

Richard Thompson Band: Live in Providence(en)

This show shot in 2003 at Lupo's and unpretentiously directed by Eric Masunaga captures Thompson and his band in a top notch performance. The only flaw with the DVD is it's too short--many of Thompson's shows can go well over the two hour mark and I suspect that many songs are missing from this terrific show.

Harmonium in California(fr)

Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.

The American Folk Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-1966(en)

In 1962, a group of legendary American blues musicians embarked on a series of tours to the United Kingdom. Footage from these classic concerts, which feature the likes of Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Junior Wells and more, are collected here. Blues fans will relish appearances by Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Big Joe Turner, Otis Rush ...

American Folk-Blues Festival: The Blues and Gospel Train(en)

A 16 minute short comprising 2 acts of a 1964 event where an innovative group of musicians performed on a real railroad track. The audience on one side of the tracks and the musicians on the station side.

Valley of the Rulers(he)

A poetic and metaphysical view on a daily life routine in a distant nursing home, on a top of the mountain in Uzice, Serbia – the closest place to heaven. This is the last station on earth for old people that called “clients”. While they’re waiting for the end of their lives, prisoned in a desolate nursing home and their old-dying body, they are fighting for the freedom of their soul, the only place they can feel young and alive. A fight between light and darkness, suffering and acceptance, life and death.