In 2016, a disruptive wave of rappers, encouraged by the low barriers to entry that SoundCloud offered, started sharing lyrically repetitive music with a low-fidelity and low-budget sonic profile.
All tagged music
In this poetic, archival feature documentary narrated by Laurie Anderson, Lisa Rovner uncovers the untold story of the formidable women that helped shape electronic music.
The Balkans is home to an ancient pagan tradition where magic and mystery still have a sacred place in the cosmic order. The Kukeri festival has had a strong hold over Bulgarian cultural life since the fifth century, surviving the Ottomans, Christendom and communist rule. Every winter, hundreds of terrifying figures prowl snow-capped forests and village centres in search of evil spirits to dispel from their communities.
Geogre Hitzak’s short documentary 'Waiting For the Sea', about an electronic music festival in the drained Aral Sea, will be opening the Calvert Journal Film Festival: 7 days of New East cinema, online from 7pm BST tomorrow 12 October for free! Read our review by Tommy Hodgson.
Vinyl is back! In the beautiful “Gotta Groove Records” , step inside the eponymous Cleveland vinyl factory that has seen a stunning resurgence in recent years and discover its beloved magical printing process.
Like in so many other Caribbean countries, life is tough for the inhabitants of Jamaica. But with this immersive first-time documentary, director Louis Josek chooses to explore the country from the perspective of its indignant, ambitious youth, the key instigators of a growing cultural shift in the island’s society.
With their latest release, Dogwoof and director Natalie Johns introduce genius composer Max Richter and re-acquaint us with a much-needed good night’s sleep. The result is an exquisitely soothing film to be enjoyed cuddled up on the sofa after dark.
Rubika Shah’s raucous BFI 2019 winner about the extraordinary journey of Britain’s 1970s Rock Against Racism collective is available to rent on the Rich Mix website until Sunday 16th August. Tommy Hodgson gives us his review.
We’ve teamed up with the New York-based Black Documentary Collective (BDC) to bring you our latest Top Docs - ten of the best documentaries made by black directors, as voted by the members of the collective.
We’re teaming up with our favourite festival news platform Film Fest Report, to bring you a top 10 of our favourite short films available on the Selects platform.
We’ve spent the past week delving into this phenomenal collection and have emerged to bring you 10 stunning must-see films.
As lockdown persists around the world and travel continues to be ruled out, we teamed up with The Movie Diorama to bring you our 10 favourite documentaries that focus on global subcultures, so that you can continue to explore the world through film.
Aptly named “The Home Entertainment Edition” and running from the 1st to 17th of May, the fabulous quirkiness of this year’s slimmed down programme is just as addictive and an endless internet rabbit-hole. Our top 5 documentaries to watch include
If You Knew, MARINA and A Sonic Pulse are three short documentaries that flip the assumed disadvantage of sensory disability on its head, painting a warm and dynamic picture of life - relationships, leisure, coming of age - not in spite of, but alongside, their subjects’ sensory disabilities.
Director Will Hazell came up with an ingenious filming technique in order to capture people’s feelings, worries and musings on the Covid-19 outbreak while maintaining a safe distance in his car. He speaks to friends, members of a London Covid-19 Facebook page, and captures balcony and window performances by Desree and Mazaika.
FREE OF THE WEEK
Explore the depths of rural Egypt to discover the mystical Sufi Mawlid celebrations, traditional festivals where locals gather to experience divine ecstasy through chanting, dancing and shared experience. Director Yasmin Kamal gives us some background to this unique film, shot in a vérité style to give us an experiential viewing that is sure to overload the senses and make you question what is real.
FREE OF THE WEEK
Introducing ‘Free of the Week’, our weekly tip on what documentary you should watch next, for free! Our first edition takes us to Chinese megacity Chongqing to discover the rappers speaking out against censorship and the alienating growth of their hometown.
Throughout director Paul Duane’s character study of the travelling artist you'll wonder what exactly it is that you're watching. Filmed over two years of Drummond’s 12-year world tour of 12 different cities, ‘Best Before Death’ redeems itself by capturing some unexpectedly spontaneous and sincere interactions from local passersby.
‘Palestine Underground’ opens to footage of DJ Oddz’ daring ascent of the 8 metre wall standing between him and the venue he’s due to play at.
Documentary Weekly met with musician and filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey to chat about her new film, ‘Romantic Comedy’, the day after it’s live-scored UK premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
