No Turning Back: Scoring Silent Running

Chopin: The Women Behind the Music(en)

Documentary about the life of the great pianist and composer Chopin and the story of the women whose voices inspired his music. It is undeniable that Chopin revolutionised the nature of music composed for the piano both technically and emotionally. What is less well known is that the actual musical instrument that provided his greatest source of inspiration was the female voice.

Leonard Bernstein: A Genius Divided(de)

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

Facing the Music(en)

Anne Boyd, one of Australia's leading contemporary composers, teaches music at the publicly funded University of Sydney. This documentary chronicles a year in the life of an academic department that's under the financial gun.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda(ja)

Oscar winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.

Karel Svoboda: Šťastná léta(cs)

Breaking Rachmaninoff(en)

A humorous documentary about the search for a great composer who managed to overcome his depression by spelling his own name wrong.

Leoš Janáček(cs)

O, Fortuna! A portrait of the composer of Carmina Burana, Carl Orff(fr)

Quincy(en)

An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing major pop hits of the early 1960s and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations in the same time period.

Scotland: Edinburgh, the Highlands and the Hebrides(en)

This fascinating musical exploration of Scotland retraces the journey taken in 1829 by acclaimed composer Felix Mendelssohn, which inspired some of his most famous works, such as the "Scottish" Symphony and "The Hebrides" overture. Travel from the majestic sites of the historic Edinburgh Castle, Scott Monument and Palace of Holyrood to the picturesque island of Staffa, home of the legendary Fingal's Cave.

O Thou Transcendent: The Life of Ralph Vaughan Williams(en)

Award-winning filmmaker Tony Palmer directs this riveting documentary on the life and times of influential English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. With archived performances by conductor Sir Adrian Boult and stirring musical passages from "The Tallis Fantasia" and "The Lark Ascending," among others, Palmer's film also features interviews with Vaughan and his beloved wife, Ursula.

Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott(en)

His filmmaker son probes the professional and private lives of his remote but fascinating father: bandleader, composer, inventor, and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.

Fanfares(en)

Six composers work on a composition to be performed in a shopping mall.

Informação H. J. Koellreutter(pt)

A Magic Friend: The Maestro Nino Rota(it)

The artistic evolution of the great composer, whose work left an indelible mark in the history of Italian cinema. In this documentary Nino Rota's extraordinary musical production relives in the words of his friends and colleagues. His collaboration with Visconti and Fellini are truly memorable. His movie score and sequences of his performances in theaters all over the world hand us down a full and evocative outline of this outstanding artist.

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand(fr)

Michel Legrand, jazz musician and composer extraordinaire, has left his mark on the history of cinema, including the films of Jacques Demy, especially The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the 60th anniversary of which is being celebrated in Cannes. Using never-before-seen archives and personal accounts, the film looks back on a lifetime dedicated to music, and the career of a man who served it masterfully to the very end.

Bathtubs Over Broadway(en)

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Čekej mě, milý, s podzimem(cs)

Scenes from the life of composer Zdeněk Fibich accompanied by excerpts from his work in a poetic documentary... The story of the Czech artist is embodied in a single day in the life of his collaborator and lover Anežka Schulzová (Iveta Rálková). Between waking up in the morning and falling asleep at night, she brings fragments of her beloved man's life experiences to life in her memories. It is a drama of emotions that draws her into its trap. Fibich left the safe haven of his family for her love, seeking inspiration in passion and eroticism. This clearly tense human situation is complicated by Anežka's rival and Fibich's wife Betty.

Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere(en)

Frank Zappa: New York & Elsewhere is an Austrian released TV documentary directed in 1980 by Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, aka DoRo productions, who are most popular for their work with Queen.

Helicopter String Quartet(de)

One morning, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen awoke from a dream that told him to take to the sky. Stockhausen envisioned four helicopters swirling in the clouds, with each of a quartet’s members tucked inside his own chopper, communicating through headsets, stringing away in sync to the rotor-blade motors. He immediately set forth to make that dream a reality. In 1995, Dutch film director Scheffer followed Stockhausen in the days leading up to the premiere performance of his Helicopter String Quartet in Amsterdam. The resulting film offers a rare glimpse of Stockhausen as he patiently dictates every agonizingly detailed measure to the Arditti Quartet.