My Piece of The City

Funny Up North

July 2011 •English

Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle, George Formby, Arthur Askey, Norman Evans and many more. The North of England has always enjoyed its own very particular brand of comedy, best seen today in Coronation Street. 80 years ago however Mancunian Studios produced feature films for the northern masses. Funny Up North tells the story of the Mancunian Studios, its eccentric owner John E Blakeley and its cavalcade of stars including such household names as Arthur Askey, Jimmy Jewell, George Formby and the legendary Frank Randle. Hosted by Professor Chris Lee, the authority on northern cinema, Funny Up North takes you on a journey from its humble beginnings to its sad demise in the 1960s.

L'harmonie

August 2013 •French

A small town nestling in the middle of a snowy expanse. In a crowded hall, some musicians are warming up. Cacophony. The conductor calls for silence. On a river bank at dawn, an old man is fishing alone, alert. Nearby, a band of Indians are marching to music for the carnival. A young hunter stalks her prey on the edge of a forest, while in his bedroom, a teenager struggles with his tie to the deafening sound of symphonic heavy metal rock. Between community and moments of solitude, through a series of lively Friday evening rehearsals and the interminable republican ceremonies, L'harmonie takes us to the heart of this colorful community in search of harmony.

The Wild Blue Yonder

September 2005 •English

An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.

Exhalación: vida y muerte de De La Puríssima

December 2019 •Spanish

The duo made up of musician and actress Julia de Castro and double bass player Miguel Rodrigáñez thus premieres their latest show, Exhalación: vida y muerte de De La Puríssima. With it, they intend to put an end to the ten-year revolution of EL CUPLÉ this scenic musical genre, which the singular tandem has merged with jazz, cumbia and electronics on stages around the world. Show nominated for the Premios Valle Inclán. As the duo explains, De La Puríssima was born in 2009 “as a transit project, in which music was the most direct and ritualistic medium from which to raise core issues such as sex, bullfighting, folklore or religion”. Now, a decade later, it is time to remove the peineta and celebrate the end of a stage in which the provocative lyrics by Julia de Castro have traveled through numerous audiences to bring up to date a genre that was in the forgetfulness of national folklore, the cuplé.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

May 2002 •English

This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.

Bob Dylan - TV Live & Rare 1963 - 1975

January 2004 •English

Music DVD with rare live and TV performances from the period 1963-1975.

The Beach Boys - California Surfin

January 2004 •English

Wattstax

February 1973 •English

A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage from the concert with footage of the living conditions in the current-day Watts neighborhood.

Rize

January 2005 •English

A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.

Shahid

August 2024 •German

Narges Shahid Kalhor is a director seeking to be rid of the "Shahid" (martyrs), who are too heavy a burden. From Bavarian bureaucracy and therapy to dancing with Iran’s past generations and their long shadows, she twirls through a heady autofiction.

Crash 'n' Burn

January 1977 •English

Crash 'n' Burn is an experimental film shot in and named after Toronto, Ontario's first punk rock club. (Not to be confused with Peter Vronsky's similarly titled 1977 documentary on the Toronto punk scene made for the CBC television network.) The film, shot on 16mm black-and-white stock, features performances by Dead Boys, Teenage Head, The Boyfriends, and The Diodes".

Dig!

May 2004 •English

A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.

Gaza

January 2019 •English

GAZA brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict. Throughout its entire history the Gaza Strip has been witness to conflict and upheaval. From ancient times this tiny coastal territory, located at a crossroads between continents, has been a pawn whose fate rested in the hands of powerful neighbours.

Piece by Piece

October 2024 •English

The story of the life and career of American musician Pharrell Williams in the style of LEGO animation.

Imperfect

November 2021 •English

A professional company of actors with disabilities defies expectations by taking center stage in Chicago the musical.

Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust - The Bridge to Russia

January 2014 •English

26 years ago, Billy Joel took his family, his music and his concert show to the former Soviet Union. This feature-length documentary film looks back at the triumphs and difficulties encountered in creating the first fully staged rock 'n' roll show in the USSR. Directed by Emmy(R)-winning documentarian, Jim Brown.

Podium

February 2007 •English

Swing con Son

April 2009 •Spanish

Music documentary by director Rafael Marziano Tinoco from Venezuela

Madonna: Truth or Dare

May 1991 •English

From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

Rhythm is it!

June 2004 •English

RHYTHM IS IT! records the first big educational project of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. The orchestra ventured out of the ivory tower of high culture into boroughs of low life for the sake of 250 youngsters. They had been strangers to classical music, but after arduous but thrilling preparation they danced to Stravinsky's 'Le Sacre du Printemps' ('The Rite of Spring'). Recorded with a breathtaking fidelity of sound, this film from Thomas Grube and Enrique Sánchez Lansch documents the stages of the Sacre project and offers deep insights into the rehearsals of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.