This feature-length documentary explores the life of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, Hallelujah.
Self
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.
Music
The reappearance of notorious criminal Paul Sanchez becomes an obsession for a young police officer who will do anything to catch him.
Original Music Composer
Portraying the last days in the life of philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), whose writings such as The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction have become of seminal importance in cultural criticism, Ferraro not only deals with a historical and philosophically fascinating subject, but has also crafted a landscape film of immense beauty.
Performer
John Cale performed The Velvet Underground & Nico in full at a concert in Paris on Sunday night, joined by guest performers including Animal Collective, Mark Lanegan, Pete Doherty and Carl Barât of The Libertines, Lou Doillon, Etienne Daho and Lemon Jelly’s Nick Franglen.
Himself (archival footage)
Feature documentary on the pioneering life and work of iconoclastic filmmaker/musician/composer/artist Tony Conrad.
Music
The second installment of Anton Vidokle’s trilogy on Russian cosmism, The Communist Revolution Was Caused By The Sun, looks at the poetic dimension of the solar cosmology of Soviet biophysicist Alexander Chizhevsky. Shot in Kazakhstan, where Chizhevsky was imprisoned and later exiled, the film introduces Сhizhevsky’s research into the impact of solar emissions on human sociology, psychology, politics, and economics in the form of wars, revolutions, epidemics, and other upheavals. It aligns the life of post-Soviet rural residents and the futurological projects of Russian cosmism to emphasize that the goal of the early Soviet breakthroughs aimed at the conquest of outer space was not so much technical acceleration, but the common cause of humankind in their struggle against the limitations of earthly life.
Self (archive footage)
DANNY SAYS is a documentary unveiling the amazing journey of Danny Fields. Fields has played a pivotal role in music and culture with seminal acts including: the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, MC5, Nico, the Ramones and beyond.
Music
Based on the ideas of Russian philosopher, Nikolai Fedorov, Anton Vidokle’s film was shot in Siberia, Crimea, and Kazakhstan. Fedorov, like others, believed that death was a mistake, “because the energy of cosmos is indestructible, because true religion is a cult of ancestors, because true social equality is immortality for all.” Fedorov was one of the Cosmo-Immortalists, a surge of thinkers that emerged in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They linked Western Enlightenment with Russian Orthodoxy and Eastern philosophical traditions, as well as Marxism, to create an idiosyncratically concrete metaphysics. For the Russian cosmists, cosmos did not mean outer space: rather, they wanted to create “cosmos” on earth. “To construct a new reality, free of hunger, disease, violence, death, need, inequality – like communism.”
Music
This microcosm of power and money has no time for Gracieuse, whose only assets are her talent, her fiercely stubborn character, and, most particularly, her determination to succeed. A high tension wire who's ready to stand up to Franz Mann and to face any obstacle, even if it means stepping outside the law, she pursues her sole obsession: to have a horse to call her own that she will take to the top.
Original Music Composer
Paul reflects on the summer he met Angèle and Frédéric as he watches his friend being laid to rest.
Even today, JOHN CALE is renowned for having been a member of the Velvet Underground, less known to many fans are his early works with avant-garde musicians like John Cage or La Monte Young. When he was invited for the Rockpalast-Festival on October, 14th 1984, he had just released the desolate masterpiece "Music For A New Society" (1982). Compared to the official live album, JOHN CALE's performance at the Rockpalast was far more intense, desperate, and wild. He performed the songs with a very hard edge, sometimes even deconstructed them ("Heartbreak Hotel"). This DVD contains two shows, one from 1984 with his full band and a solo Cale show from 1983.
Music
A boy, an old man, two beautiful twin sisters get caught up in a voyeuristic scandal during the Cultural Revolution in China. This controversial film was subsequently banned and was never made public in China.
Director
Feature-length compilation program presenting 37 out of 41 original fluxfilms produced and directed in the 1960s by Fluxus artists, including George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Robert Watts, Paul Sharits, et al.
Original Music Composer
Five Hours. Six Countries. Seven Chapters. Eight Conflicts. Nine Women.
Celebrating the cream of the New York rock scene, including classic performances from the Ramones, New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Lou Reed and more. 01.New York Dolls - Jet Boy (Nov 1973) 02.Patti Smith Group - Horses (May 1976) 03.Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Jan 1978) 04.Television - Foxhole (May 1978) 05.Ramones - Don't Come Close (Sep 1978) 06.Blondie - I'm Alway Touched By Your Presence Dear (Mar 1978) 07.Lou Reed - Waiting For The Man (Dec 1984) 08.John Cale - Dying On The Vine (Dec 1985) 09.Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane (Dec 1992) 10.Patti Smith - Because The Night (Apr 2002) 11.Lou Reed - Perfect Day (May 2003) 12.John Cale - Venus In Furs (Oct 2003) 13.David Byrne - This Must Be The Place (May 2004) 14.Antony And The johnsons - Hope There's Some One (Jun 2005) 15.The Strokes - Last Nite (Jun 2006)
Dick Winter
Writer-director Pablo Agüero's feature debut follows Inti (Joaquin Aguila), a 6-year-old boy caught up in the madness of post-"Dirty War" Argentina. Upon her release from prison, Inti's mother, Alba (Dolores Fonzi), a former dissident, whisks him away from his grandmother's care. Still unsure of her own direction in life, Alba takes Inti to live in a hippie commune in Patagonia. Velvet Underground founder John Cale co-stars.
Himself
Esther Robinson's portrait of her uncle Danny Williams, Warhol's onetime lover, collaborator and filmmaker in his own right, offers a exploration of the Factory era, an homage to Williams's talent, a journey of family discovery and a compelling inquiry into Williams's mysterious disappearance at age 27.
Velvet Underground Under Review is a 75 minute film reviewing the music and career of one of rock musics most influential collectives; a band which esteemed music journalist Lester Bangs claims started modern music. It features rare musical performances never available before as well as obscure footage, rare interviews and private photographs of and with Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Sterling Morrison and John Cale. The film also features; rarely seen promo films; material from Andy Warhols private film collection; interviews with colleagues, producers, musicians and friends; TV clips; location shots and a host of other features.
Himself
A documentary on the music, performers, attitude and distinctive look that made up punk rock.
Solo live concert recorded in Brussels, April 12, 1992. Tracks: 1) On A Wedding Anniversary 2) Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed 3) Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night 4) The Soul of Carmen Miranda 5) Cordoba 6) Ship Of Fools 7) Leaving It Up To You 8) The Ballad Of Cable Hogue 9) Chinese Envoy 10) Fear Is A Man's Best Friend 11) Dying On The Vine 12) Heartbreak Hotel 13) Paris 1919 14) (I Keep A) Close Watch 15) Hallelujah
Music
Rhinoceros Eyes is a fantastical coming-of-age story revolving around Chep, a young, reclusive prop-house employee who falls in love with a detail-obsessed movie production designer named Fran. Fran's need for authentic props sends Chep to great and questionable lengths as he tries to satisfy her requests, and ultimately... win her heart.
Music
The story of a woman who decides to kill herself. She puts herself through a series of experiences that test the limits of what is humanly bearable in an ultimate attempt to find a reason to live.
Self
A search for the poetic soul of Wales - a feature documentary which explores poetic responses, historical & contemporary, to the issues of social & cultural survival; and celebrates this enduring 2500 year poetic experience.
Music
Whilst celebrating Lleu's 18th birthday, Lleu and two friends go for a boat ride, when they discover beneath the water the golden doorway to the Mabinogi (the Otherworld). They swim down and are transported back in time many centuries to the Mabinogi. There they encounter some problems with mediaeval life, and they have to deal with the conflict between fate personal choice and magic
Music
Paris follows rookie detective Jason Bartok on his disturbing journey through the shadowy underworld of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, illuminated only by a sweet but short-lived romance with a strikingly beautiful, enigmatic woman. As the tale unfolds, Jason accidentally shoots his corrupt partner, Leon, grabbing stolen money from the crime scene at the older policeman's urging. The guilt-ridden young man quickly takes to the road to track down Leon's lover, Linda/Shen Li, an illegal Chinese immigrant, to deliver the bag of cash to her. Jason's search takes in seedy motels and rough bars, an L.A. massage parlor and a Nevada ranch, until finally in a dingy Vegas dive, he discovers the irresistible Linda, a sparkling jewel ensnared by the sex trade. Stalked by thugs, the money's "rightful owners", Jason and Linda are thrust together to make their escape through the haunting landscape that is the California desert.
Narrator
A man wanders around Venice, still bruised from a failed marriage, lost in an empty city, finding old books, memories, and a momentary ghost.
Music
A look at post-9/11 America by the Danish documentarian.
Himself - Musician
A look at post-9/11 America by the Danish documentarian.
Himself
Andy Warhol, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century (who also coined the immortal catchphrase "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes"), gets the definitive treatment. This film includes a look into his inner circle and examines both his artistic and personal impact on society. From day-glo Marilyns and Elvises to Campbell's Soup cans to the groovy 1960s and '70s, step into the limelight of the Warhol world.
Music
This documentary film follows a group of Welsh musicians interacting and playing in the studio. Combining shots of the city with the music of John Cale as performed by Welsh stars such as Catatonia, Big Leaves and Manic Street Preachers.
This documentary film follows a group of Welsh musicians interacting and playing in the studio. Combining shots of the city with the music of John Cale as performed by Welsh stars such as Catatonia, Big Leaves and Manic Street Preachers.
Music
How to have children without having sex. Two sisters, one married to a man, the other married to God. One goes through artificial insemination and the other through spiritual insemination. Who will be successful in their attempt?
Original Music Composer
Late 17th Century: Anne de Grandcamp and Lucie de Fontenelle, two little girls from Normandy, arrive at the Saint-Cyr school founded by Madame de Maintenon for educating the daughters of impoverished nobles ruined in wars and making them into free women. Madame de Maintenon is the secret wife of Louis XIV, and empowered by his support, she offers "her" two hundred fifty girls a playful and avant-garde education. Anne and Lucie, two inseparable friends, allow themselves to be carried away by the promise of a bright future. But Maintenon has arrived at the pinnacle of power through scheming and debasing herself and she now fears the fires of hell. She is counting on her model school to atone for her past sins.
Original Music Composer
A portrait of a single day in the late summer of 1956, toward the end of Bertolt Brecht's life, as he prepares to leave his lakeside home, surrounded by the women who form his extended family.
Original Music Composer
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Music
Laetita Masson directs this hallucinatory dream-like work about dancing on the beach, Elvis impersonators, and sailors longing to live and work in Taipei. Sandrine Kiberlain, Johnny Hallyday, and Julian Sands are just a few of the many cast members.
Music
Wisconsin Death Trip is an intimate, shocking and sometimes hilarious account of the disasters that befell one small town in Wisconsin during the final decade of the 19th century. The film is inspired by Michael Lesy's book of the same name which was first published in 1973. Lesy discovered a striking archive of black and white photographs in the town of Black River Falls dating from the 1890s and married a selection of these images to extracts from the town's newspaper from the same decade. The effect was surprising and disturbing. The town of Black River Falls seems gripped by some peculiar malaise and the weekly news is dominated by bizarre tales of madness, eccentricity and violence amongst the local population.
Original Music Composer
A housewife's affair with a younger man goes nowhere.
Original Music Composer
The film portrays life of New York City's Lower East Side inhabitants. Introvert therapist Betty is befriended with Chinese immigrant Lu Lu, leftist radical Che is also Lu Lu's friend. Italian immigrant and wife of supervisor of building where they all live, Marta, is having an affair with her neighbour Frankie who likes scams. One of his scams goes terribly wrong.
Himself
Follows John Cale, a Welsh musician and producer, who founded the legendary 60s and 70s NY rock band - the Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed. Cale delved into other mainstream and experimental music genres as well.
Music
A young man's odyssey from a small town in Colorado to Budapest, in search of his estranged girlfriend.
Manager
A young man's odyssey from a small town in Colorado to Budapest, in search of his estranged girlfriend.
Original Music Composer
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Music
Based on the true story of Valerie Solanas who was a 1960s radical preaching hatred toward men in her "Scum" manifesto. She wrote a screenplay for a film that she wanted Andy Warhol to produce, but he continued to ignore her. So she shot him. This is Valerie's story.
Original Music Composer
Benoit has planned out his life. Unfortunately he has forgotten the military duty. After he is called to duty he tries everything to get around. He goes to a psychiatrist who gives him medicine against depression. As this doesn't work out he tries suicide. The story gets even worse as he is told by a military doctor that he is HIV positive. Benoit tumbles down into the drug scene. Then he goes to Italy and meets Claudia. Things seem to improve, but only for a short time...
Himself
In this 1995 made-for television biopic, see legendary musician and filmmaker Ivan Kral as he made music history. With guitar and camera in the 70s, playing with Iggy Pop, Blondie and Patti Smith Group, he triumphed, rising from refugee to rock icon.
Cale
A rock star falls in love with a common pickpocket without any personal history. But soon she finds herself in a contraband of drugs and both try to escape it.
Music
A rock star falls in love with a common pickpocket without any personal history. But soon she finds herself in a contraband of drugs and both try to escape it.
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times is a documentary about the life of Brian Wilson, the musical mastermind and songwriter for the Beach Boys. The film examines the ups and downs of Wilson's life, including the early years of the Beach Boys, his years of substance abuse, and his long road to recovery. The film was directed by music producer Don Was, who also worked on the soundtrack for Backbeat, a film about the early days of the Beatles.
Himself
A look into the many lives of Christa Päffgen, otherwise known as Nico; from cutie German mädchen to the first of the supermodels, to glamorous diva of the Velvet Underground, to cult item, junkie and hag. Many faces for the same woman, whom, you realize, just couldn't bring herself to care enough to live.
Music
A disturbingly organic-looking figure speaks to us of life, politics and death as the symbol of the common man toils away. Written and narrated by William S. Burroughs.
Self
Spotlights the Velvet Underground's 1993 reunion tour of Europe, interspersing footage of the band's Paris concert and interviews with the members of the group. Concerts in Prague and Berlin included.
bass, viola, keyboards, vocals
Seminal experimental rock band The Velvet Underground, who initially disbanded in 1970, perform a set at L'Olympia in Paris, France in June 1993, during their brief reunion tour. The set features original founding members Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker performing 15 songs, including a new, previously unreleased track, "Coyote."
Original Music Composer
The unhappy love lives of Paul and Marcus, two artists and friends who are neither particularly young or successful anymore.
Himself
An 80-minute documentary following John Cale and Brian Eno in Moscow, London, and Wales during the creation of the album "Words for the Dying."
Music
In this political thriller, a gubernatorial candidate's idealistic press secretary discovers that the opposing political candidate has feathered the nest of his campaigns with terrible lies.
Original Music Composer
Adrien is 19 years old. He has not met his father, Clément for 4 years. Adrien returns home and the two try to better understand each other. Clément lives together with Louis, a twenty-something girl who wants to be an actress. The boy starts a flirt with Louise which pushes the father-son relationship back to a crisis...
Self
This intimate portrait of Andy Warhol pulls together a unique library of material shot by New York film legend Jonas Mekas. Spanning from 1963 to 1990, the film features a cast of counterculture icons including Allen Ginsberg, George Maciunas, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono, as well as John and Caroline Kennedy, and Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy Onassis's sister and Warhol muse)—to whom Mekas dedicates the film. The film features footage from the Velvet Underground's first public performance. A portrait of the remarkable life of arguable the twentieth century's most famous artist and leading iconographer.
Original Music Composer
Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol Superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol's crowd. The song cycle focuses on Warhol's interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol's first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.
Self
Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol Superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol's crowd. The song cycle focuses on Warhol's interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol's first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.
Original Music Composer
A low budget spoof of a Bergmannesque summer resort love triangle that ends with a surreal twist.
Hubbley
A low budget spoof of a Bergmannesque summer resort love triangle that ends with a surreal twist.
Lonely writer
Alice ends up in the derelict houses of Coney Island and Times Square. She sinks into a wonderland of decadence and despair, into the no-mans-land of lost souls, charlatans, broken dreams and cheap perversions.
Himself
PBS produced documentary in two parts: the first is dedicated to saxophonist and composer John Zorn; the second is about Sonic Youth at the height of their powers in 1988.
Original Music Composer
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
Original Music Composer
Harry is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely--while on stage. Helene is new in town, a lonely itinerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Harry's Stanley when the theater group performs A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the growing affection between Helene and Stanley, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.
Self
The cream of the New York new wave/punk crop, filmed live at CBGB when the scene was just beginning. Includes performances by Patti Smith, Blondie, Television, the Ramones, Talking Heads, the Heartbreakers, the Shirts, Wayne County, the Marbles, the Dolls, Miamis, Harry Toledo, and the Tuff Darts (w/Robert Gordon).
Music
A young woman is convicted on drug offenses and sent to a women's penitentiary run by a repressed and oppressive female warden. When the prison's sadistic doctor begins conducting illegal "therapeutic" experiments on the inmates, the ladies plot their revenge.
Music
Former child star Joe Davis, reduced to living in a cheap Hollywood motel while struggling for acting jobs, is lusted after by nearly every woman he meets, including Jessica Todd, a tightly wound feminist who has recently come out as a lesbian. When Jessica's mother, Sally, an emotionally needy has-been actress, meets Joe, she moves him into her enormous, tacky mansion as her new boy toy and attempts to get him acting work.
Original Music Composer
Three women join a militant feminist group, P.I.G. (Politically Involved Girls), but their newfound liberation doesn't make them any happier.
Music
Straight and Narrow is a study of subjective colour and visual rhythm, although it is printed on black and white film, the hypnotic pacing of the images will cause most viewers to experience a programmed gamut of hallucinatory colour effects. Through the intermediary of rhythm, the maximal impact is drawn from the simplest of universal human images: straight horizontal and vertical lines. Set to a strong percussive musical background, rapidly alternating images of black and white straight lines are juxtaposed in precise rhythmic patterns to create specific colours... if you can watch without becoming hypnotised...
Self
An epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s.
Man (uncredited)
Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35-minute reels) only once, at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque in the basement of the now-demolished Wurlitzer Building at 125 West 41st Street in New York City. The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls, made in 1966, Warhol directed that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side.
This newly unearthed film, which Warhol shot during a concert at the Boston Tea Party, features a variety of filmmaking techniques. Sudden in-and-out zooms, sweeping panning shots, in-camera edits that create single frame images and bursts of light like paparazzi flash bulbs going off mirror the kinesthetic experience of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, with its strobe lights, whip dancers, colorful slide shows, multi-screen projections, liberal use of amphetamines, and overpowering sound. It is a significant find indeed for fans of the Velvets, being one of only two known films with synchronous sound of the band performing live, and this the only one in color.
Himself
Exploding Plastic Inevitable was a series of multimedia events organised by Andy Warhol between 1966 and 1967, featuring musical performances by The Velvet Underground and Nico, screenings of Warhol's films, and dancing and performances by regulars of Warhol's Factory. It is also the title of a 18-minute film by Ronald Nameth filmed during one week of the show in Chicago, Illinois in 1966.
One of Andy Warhol's screen tests, focusing on an actor's face for 4-5 mins.
Himself
Documents each member of The Velvet Underground having their cards read at a big apartment party. The tarot reader is continually interrupted in her readings by the chaos created by the characters around her.
Or "Moe in Bondage" - The "Moe" of the title is the Velvet Underground's drummer, Maureen Tucker, whose band-mates have tied her to a chair and are now hanging around nibbling on sandwiches and pieces of fruit.
Himself
Velvet Underground's first public appearance.
Part of the Dirt Trilogy
Himself
The film depicts a rehearsal of The Velvet Underground including Nico, and is essentially one long loose improvisation.
The Velvet Underground's first public appearance, filmed in Super 8 at a Psychiatrist's Convention, at the Delmonico Hotel, New York, January 14, 1966. Andy Warhol was invited to speak at the annual banquet of the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry. He brought along the Velvets and other factory regulars.
Himself
Reel 24. Test #3
Director
Cale makes a short film called Police Car. No sound, and it is in black & white. Part #31 in the Fluxus Film series.
Self
The films were made between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol's Factory studio in New York City. Subjects were captured in stark relief by a strong key light, and filmed by Warhol with his stationary 16mm Bolex camera on silent, black and white, 100-foot rolls of film at 24 frames per second. The resulting two-and-a-half-minute film reels were then screened in 'slow motion' at 16 frames per second.
Two nuns take a bath, then meet a sailor on the Staten Island Ferry.
Himself
Where a nun and a nurse go to hell because of their sinful life in St. Vincent's Hospital.
Music
An hour-long paean to the art of the kiss featuring fourteen couples, from passionate participants to lethargic lovers, engaging in the intimate act.