A Bright Nowhere: Journeying Into Improvisation

Tom Waits - Live On The Tube(en)

Tom Waits 1985 performance of "16 Shells From A 30.6" and “In the Neighborhood” from the album 'Swordfish Trombones' and "Cemetery Polka" and “Walking Spanish” from the album 'Rain Dogs' Live On The Tube.

Moonwalk(es)

This short documentary film captures the natural movement of the moon mixed with an experimental musical track that accompanies the rhythm of the "walk" on the stage that the protagonist occupies, the sky.

To B or to B Flat - the composer Boudewijn Buckinx(en)

Who gets the idea to write “Nine unfinished symphonies” - one of them perhaps the shortest Symphony in music history? Or "1001 sonatas’ - each lasting about a minute but in total being one of the longest pieces ever written? Like a postmodern Erik Satie the Belgium composer Boudewijn Buckinx is using music history as a playing field. The classical music audience is irritated, the avant-gardist wrinkles his nose... "Daisies in a Meadow" - that's how Buckinx described his "1001 Sonatas” for violin and piano, They play a leading role in our film, in the supporting roles the Spanish sun and the Belgian rain. The latter, however, did not show up at the set - just as you always have to be prepared for surprises with Boudewijn Buckinx. "Why is my music so simple? - Why is my music so complex?" With a wink, Buckinx gives various answers to these recurring questions. The portrait of an immensely productive artist who is radically taking his own path.

Waiting for Guffman(en)

Aspiring director Corky St. Clair and the marginally talented amateur cast of his hokey small-town musical production go overboard when they learn that Broadway theater agent Mort Guffman will be in attendance.

The Ghost(en)

Two college students set out to capture a ghost on film to make millions instead of doing their finals.

The Yellow Shark(en)

This live recording was culled from seven September 1992 concerts given in Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt by the Ensemble Modern, a Frankfurt-based chamber orchestra that performs only contemporary music. Composed and conducted by Frank Zappa.

Phantasia(xx)

X-ray images were invented in 1895, the same year in which the Lumière brothers presented their respective invention in what today is considered to be the first cinema screening. Thus, both cinema and radiography fall within the scopic regime inaugurated by modernity. The use of X-rays on two sculptures from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum generates images that reveal certain elements of them that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. These images, despite being generally created for technical or scientific purposes, seem to produce a certain form of 'photogénie': they lend the radiographed objects a new appearance that lies somewhere between the material and the ethereal, endowing them with a vaporous and spectral quality. It is not by chance that physics and phantasmagoria share the term 'spectrum' in their vocabulary.

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968(en)

Shot on July 23, 1968, this historical 16mm footage of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, CA has been newly restored from the Vault! The film has been newly synced to the 2023 mixes, marking the first time it's ever been seen with audio. Frank Zappa never had the opportunity to see this footage synced to the music. Now you do. The film was shot in increments and features silent performance footage of The Mothers along with scenes involving The Freaks and the premier of The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously). In the audience were Flo & Eddie (The Turtles), John Mayall, Elliot Ingber (The Fraternity Of Man), Alice Cooper and members of the Rolling Stones.

The Making of Basement 626(uk)

In January 2025, experimental jazz duo Myshko Birchenko and Yevhen Puhachov, members of Hyphen Dash, travelled to Kramatorsk without any pre-made drafts or demo recordings to use music as a vessel to capture the emotions present in a place on the edge of a battle for survival and explore the therapeutic nature of music and improvisation in the brutal reality of war. They packed all the equipment into a car, drove 700 kilometres from Kyiv to the frontline city Kramatorsk, and turned one of many basements which serve as shelters into a makeshift recording studio. As a result, they recorded over 300 minutes of music, which were eventually distilled into a 90-minute album.

Madeleine(en)

A stop motion/collaged based independent short film plays with the recontextualisation of memories and how time distorts them.

Sisters with Transistors(en)

Think of early electronic music and you’ll likely see men pushing buttons, knobs, and boundaries. While electronic music is often perceived as a boys' club, the truth is that from the very beginning women have been integral in inventing the devices, techniques and tropes that would define the shape of sound for years to come.

Liberté, égalité, improvisez !(fr)

En Frame(es)

William Eggleston: Musik(en)

A short documentary portrait of the artist William Eggleston; focusing particularly on his musical endeavours and his album Musik that was released through Secretly Canadian in 2017.

GUTTER: Girls of Noise(en)

In April 2008, LRS toured across the USA and met some amazing female noise artists. This is what it is like to be a girl of noise.

Cultural Preservation(en)

'Cultural Preservation' is a short documentary film which discusses the importance of community and how the development of gentrification can become a threat to it. With this film, Hussain looks at Whitechapel Road market in East London, one of the most popular markets in London and uncovers the reason behind this popularity. Through interviews with the public, he learns about the problems the community face within itself and with the changes to the area.

I'm "George Lucas": A Connor Ratliff Story(en)

Five years into performing as renowned filmmaker George Lucas in the cult comedy show "The George Lucas Talk Show", comedian Connor Ratliff questions the need for its continuation and his own drive for success and fulfillment in show business.

Songs About Fucking(en)

Artist, showman, and robe-clad raconteur Marc Rebillet embarks on one of the first live music tours after COVID-19 lockdown.

An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa(it)

An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa is an Italian documentary that aired on the Videomusic channel on January 7, 1994. It includes footage from Zappa's Universe, Video From Hell, Does Humor Belong In Music?, Baby Snakes, The True Story Of 200 Motels, The Late Show, Zappa's May 17, 1988 show at Palacio de Deportes in Barcelona, Spain, The Dub Room Special, various other interviews and performances.

No Ideas But in Things - the composer Alvin Lucier(en)

“Don’t ask me what I mean, ask me what I’ve made” – inspired by this motto, the documentary accompanies the American composer Alvin Lucier (1931 - 2021) on concert travels to The Hague (Netherlands) and Zug (Switzerland). Lucier explains and comments on his œuvre – from his early live electronics performances (MUSIC FOR SOLO PERFORMER,1965 and BIRD AND PERSON DYNING, 1975) up to the premiere of his ensemble piece PANORAMA 2 in 2011. One of Lucier’s key works, I AM SITTING IN A ROOM (1969), is introduced as a central structuring device in the film. At home in Middletown, Connecticut, Lucier offers rare insights into the beginnings of his pioneering works, his time as a member of the Sonic Arts Union, his relations with John Cage and David Tudor, as well as his teaching practice at Wesleyan University.