NZ International Film Festival - showing in 12 cities across NZ, starting in Auckland on 19 July.

www.nziff.co.nz/2018/auckland/

Music & Dance-related films:

www.nziff.co.nz/2018/auckland/films/section/music-dance/

I can recommend Gurrumul which I recently saw, admittedly, only during an aeroplane flight, but is memorable.
A doco about the life of blind Aboriginal, naturally gifted Australian singer/songwriter/musician, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.



Some other Music/Dance films caught my eye:

Chulas Fronteras - music & culture of the Texas-Mexican border.

If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd

The King - a road trip in Elvis Presley's Rolls Royce

Leto - an exploration set in the 1980s pre-perestroika Leningrad rock scene

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. - Tamil Sri Lankan musician, M.I.A.

Monterey Pop 1968 - Criterion's 50th anniversary, 4K restoration of the Pennebaker film of the event.

Nico 1988 - The last years and final performances of legendary singer Nico

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda - Japanese composer, synth-pop pioneer, electronica experimentalist.

The Song Keepers - the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir visit Germany.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Chulas Fronteras

I caught this today - recommended if you have any interest in Mexican-Texan-American popular music or music of that border region.

Filmed in the late 70s mainly, of Mexican musicians around the Mexico-Texas border, the cities & places we've heard sung about in Americana/Country music (the Rio Grande, San Antonio, Reynosa, Laredo...), the Mexican-American people (currently topical), their foot-tappingly good cantina (bar) music, the food, their history of rural migrant work, their culture.

Actually 2 films, with no specific plot-line, just full-immersion style documentary footage, music & interview dialogue of these people (musicians mainly) telling their stories.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Oh, if you are a fan of cinema & are somehow not familiar with Raise the Red Lantern (1991, Academy nominated), NZIFF are showing a rare 35mm print on Sat 4 Aug (Akld).

www.nziff.co.nz/2018/auckland/raise-the-red-lantern/

Usually acclaimed as Zhang Yimou's finest work, as a young director, when he was still prepared to risk the ire of the Chinese govt to tell essential stories.
He made many fine films in this early period, the first post-Revolution generation of Chinese film-makers - before he later went on to make excessively over-the-top creations such as 'Hero' & 'House of Flying Daggers', 'Curse of the Golden Flower'.

A young Gong Li ('Farewell My Concubine', 'Memoirs of a Geisha', 'Hannibal Rising'), at her incandescent best, is worth the price of admission.

Cinematography by the enigmatic Christopher Doyle ('In the Mood for Love', 'Psycho' remake, 'Hero').

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

what a line up.

some more classics ...

monterey pop

sally potter's orlando

wim wenders wings of desire

prince sign o the times

The Song Keepers is an excellent doco.

The Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, gathered from Northern Territory communities, take ancient Lutheran missionary hymns back to Germany & perform them in their Aboriginal languages on a church performance tour.

A feel-good scenario it is, but more informative are the back-stories of these individuals, that tell us a little about their culture, the impact & treatment by early white Australian settlers. Also the education & protection provided by German Lutheran 19th C missionaries. Another fine piece of Australian film-making.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

If you see only one music-related flick at this NZIFF, arguably this is the one....

Shut Up and Play the Piano

Chilly Gonzales...
Confronting, shocking and lyrical, beautiful, from the same guy.
(Note: some coarse language.)



As the punk rapper...

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com