The Unanswered Question III : Musical Semantics

La Grande Triple Alliance Internationale de l'Est

October 2022 •French

A shape-shifting, faceless, puny and paranoid organism, la Grande Triple Alliance Internationale de l'Est doesn't exist. In the early 2000s, a powerful flux of poisonous hermaphroditic cells was first spotted in the French cities of Metz and Strasbourg, before infecting large delimited areas of the western and eastern web. A.H. Kraken, Maria Violenza, Scorpion Violente, Noir Boy George, Les Morts vont bien, or SIDA are some of the backbone elements of this vertical 3 branched centipede who would have gladly left the organs of a worn-out counterculture at death's door, rather than knocking it with an ultimate electroshock. A bad taste joke, ephemeral in its core, rigorously immortal, the GTAIE continues to perpetrate its crimes, sometimes under the spotlight, always clandestinely.

The Britpop Story 'It Really, Really, Really, Could Happen'

August 2005 •English

In August 1995 Blur and Oasis were engaged in a head-to-head chart battle which divided music fans and led to a wider argument about British pop music. John Harris, journalist and author of The Last Party - the definitive study of the entwinement of music and politics in the 1990s - presents a documentary charting the rise of Britpop, its brief romance with New Labour and the emergence of 'new lad' culture. Finally, as Britpop declines, he asks what legacy it has left. Including contributions from Blur's Graham Coxon, Elastica's Justine Frischmann, Sleeper's Louise Wener, former New Labour insider Darren Kalynuk, and the founder of Creation records, Alan McGee.

BoA 20th Anniversary Special Live -The Greatest-

December 2022 •Japanese

BoA's 20th Anniversary Special Live to commemorate her 20th Anniversary in the music industry. It was performed on 5/29/2022 at Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium.

Khamsin

January 2019 •French

Lebanon today. The traces of the civil war are all too tangible as government corruption becomes unbearable. In a country where conflict and peace are caught in an endless cycle, musicians from different backgrounds pool their talents to create an underground music scene. Each evokes his or her representation of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, its painful passage through conflict and instability. A touching portrait of a young generation trying to build an oasis in a hostile environment where the forces of destruction continue to wreak havoc.

Raggedy Anne

January 2023 •English

"Raggedy Anne" follows the story of a young girl, Anne, who loves to play with her Raggedy Ann doll along with her brother, Andy. When Anne grows up, she copes with his recent death through songwriting.

Amy Winehouse: The Day She Came to Dingle

July 2012 •English

Back in 2006 on a stormy December night, Amy Winehouse flew to the remote, south western corner of Ireland to perform for Other Voices, an acclaimed Irish TV music series filmed in Dingle every winter. Amy took to the stage of Saint James's church, capacity 85, and wowed the small, packed crowd with a searing, acoustic set of songs from Back to Black. After leaving the stage, a relaxed and happy Amy spoke about her music and influences - Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and the Shangri-Las to name a few. Arena joined forces with Other Voices and went to Dingle to catch up with some of the people that Amy met on that day, including taxi driver Paddy Kennedy, her bass player Dale Davis and Rev Mairt Hanley of the Other Voices church. This film showcases not only Amy herself, but the musical geniuses that inspired her to forge her own jazz pop style.

Lil Peep - The Brightside Documentary

March 2018 •English

Beat Makers

September 2007 •English

A documentary that charts the never ending hustle of up and coming, as well as seasoned hip-hop producers.

Street Musique

November 1972 •English

Animator Ryan Larkin does a visual improvisation to music performed by a popular group presented as sidewalk entertainers. His take-off point is the music, but his own beat is more boisterous than that of the musicians. The illustrations range from convoluted abstractions to caricatures of familiar rituals. Without words.

Do Útero Ao Túmulo

December 2022 •Portuguese

Since I Left You

January 2024 •English

Scored by Australian electronic music group The Avalanches and produced by Junk Food Dinner, SINCE I LEFT YOU is a visual essay about synchronicity, electricity, and sending signals with complicated computers.

Alternate Spaces

December 2022 •English

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

Great Spirit

Invalid date •Russian

Documentary video journey in search of the missing Tatar poet Rahim Sattar. The path from the present to the past runs through a polylogue of experts, folk music, works by contemporary artists, musical and creative interpretation of poems by Rahim Sattar and unique archival newsreels shot at the dawn of cinema.

Chubai. Speaking Again

January 2023 •Ukrainian

A theatrical documentary about Hrytsko Chubai, a genius of Ukrainian poetry, a connoisseur of literature, art and music and the brightest representative of Lviv underground culture of late 60s early 70s.

Oshi no Ko -The Final Act-

December 2024 •Japanese

Goro is a gynecologist and idol fan who’s in shock after his favorite star, Ai, announces an impromptu hiatus. Little does Goro realize that he’s about to forge a bond with her that defies all common sense! Lies are an idol’s weapon!

My Love Awaits Me By the Sea

September 2013 •Arabic

Hasan Hourani, a Palestinian poet and illustrator, died aged 29 in Jaffa while trying to rescue his nephew from the sea. Shortly after, the filmmaker Mais Darwazah discovers his drawings and poems and feels drawn to Hourani's world— a universe outside space and time; a place of wonder, discovery, and freedom. Motivated by this kinship, Darwazah embarks on a journey to her homeland, Palestine: a place she has never known.

Massara

November 2021 •Japanese

Short animation for the song "Massara" by Kiyoe Yoshioka.

Nice Chinese Girls Don't!

June 2019 •English

Kitty Tsui, Chinese American writer, poet, body builder, and lesbian activist, tells of her arrival as an immigrant to San Francisco and, amidst the anti-Vietnam war protests, finding her way to San Francisco State, which influenced her on her path as an activist and poet. In this first ever documentary about a Chinese American Lesbian, Tsui brings to life her coming of age in San Francisco in the 1970s, her challenges, and her continued rise to celebrity by being re-discovered by a whole new generation of Feminists.

JOE SD: Forever Young (Album Visuals)

June 2024 •English

The official visuals for JOE SD’s album “Forever Young”.

24 Hour Party People

February 2002 •English

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.