Free to Rock

100 years of archival footage in the guise of an experimental film. The magic, charm, and disorder of rural life. Cinematic memories of folk festivals, masked processions, sowing, and harvesting. The electro-acoustic music helps to define this film essay showing the beauty, brutality, and madness of rural Britain.

Jim Jarmusch chronicles the story of The Stooges, one of the greatest rock-n-roll bands of all time, presenting the context of the band’s emergence musically, culturally, politically, historically, and relating their adventures and misadventures while charting their inspirations and the reasons behind their initial commercial challenges, as well as their long-lasting legacy.

A fascinating portrait of an artist who donated all his belongings to the Danish National Gallery. Goodiepal combines music, performance and his own life into a crazy and uncompromising, but also loving and logical, answer to today’s world. Hidden beneath the outer layer of absurdity lie well-considered viewpoints and a social and environmental sensibility.

An energetic documentary that presents the story of a unique musical rebel who represented the essential opposition element in Nigeria, yet still managed to define the explosive afrobeat style. The film avoids the myths, preferring to let witnesses tell a more realistic story. Fela Kuti, whose importance for the entire Pan-African generation is indisputable, is presented in more detail and more vividly than ever before.

In 1989, communism also fell in Poland. The first free elections took place and economic and political transformation began. The documentary, shot on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the changes, summarizes the business, social, and political losses and successes of the country from the perspective of local musicians such as Kazik Staszewski, Muniek Staszczyk, and Liroy.

İlhan Mimaroğlu was one of the pioneers of electronic music. In the late 1950s, he and his wife emigrated from Turkey to the United States. There they continued to discover new sounds together. In addition to excerpts from their film and photographic archives, the multi-layered audiovisual portrait consists of excerpts from İlhan's compositions and the personal reflections of both spouses.

Today’s re-evaluation of the 20th century is happening on many fronts – one example is this portrait of German music producer Conny Plank, who helped shape the music of Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Neu!, Devo, Cluster, Ultravox and Eurythmics, and who died at just 47. 

Different ways of describing the same thing: riot grrrlz, third-wave feminism, the female invasion of the punk scene. This portrait of Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre) captures the revolutionary wave of underground girl bands and the changing relationship between feminism and society since the 1990s. A film that manages to balance punk wildness with serious investigation.

This personal film essay starts out following three sound artists (including Chris Watson, who is known for his recordings of nature), but takes a surprising turn when the director meets the deaf writer Louise Stern. The poetic film diary shows the growing role of audio media in the world of images. 

How to turn trauma into meticulous and angsty feminist rock? A captivating portrait of a post-punk poetess shows the close connection between radical creations and the utopian expectations of social change. The film brilliantly explores the straightforwardness of Lydia Lunch, who’s not afraid to talk about her childhood experiences with sexual abuse.

A portrait of a composer who is considered the founder of modern pop music in Japan, and who is also a legend of international film music (The Last Emperor, Little Buddha, The Revenant). We are reminded of the fragility of the world by Sakamoto’s cancer and by the destruction in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The film is both highly personal and very social. 

The (cinematic) archeology of electronica. Eugeniusz Rudnik revolutionized the idea of music using a pair of scissors and a magnetic tape. At Polish Radio’s legendary Experimental Studio, he revealed the hidden value of rough and rejected sounds long before the rise of DJs. 15 Corners of the World is an attempt at hearing the vision of his music.