Loading titles…
Documentary
From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From the resulting 400 hours of footage came the five-program series American Patchwork, which aired on PBS in 1991.
A celebration of New Orleans’ musical culture — from its piano bars and barrelhouses to brass bands and street parades, with their colorful, riotous, and symbolic second lines, in which the community plays an essential part in the performance. Archival film footage, photographs, interviews with and performances by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indians, and Danny Barker tell the story of the New Orleans tradition.
The bayous of Louisiana have combined French, German, West Indian, native American and hillbilly ingredients into a unique cultural gumbo. Cajun Country investigates the Cajuns’ roots in Western France, visits their cattle drives, horse races, and fais do-dos in rural Louisiana, and listens to the salty tales and raunchy songs of its black, white, and Indian music-makers.
Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long explore the enduring African-American performance traditions of the Mississippi Delta. Featuring bluesmen R.L. Burnside and Jack Owens; tall-tale tellers, fife and drum bands, and diddley-bow players; and former prisoners, railroad workers, and roustabouts singing field hollers, work chants, and levee camp songs. (re-edited version of a 1979 film)
Investigating the songs, dances, and religious rituals of the descendants of Scotch-Irish settlers of the Southern Appalachian mountains. Preachers, fiddlers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life. Performances by Tommy Jarrell; Janette Carter; Ray and Stanley Hicks; Frank Proffitt, Jr.; Sheila Kay Adams; and Ray Fairchild, the man reputed to be the fastest banjo-picker in the world.
Examining the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers, who perform not for fame or fortune but to preserve and share their culture. Stories told by Janie Hunter (80) of Johns Island, SC; ballads sung by ex-coal miner and union organizer Nimrod Workman (91), of Chatteroy, WV; fiddle tunes and tales of moonshining and feuds from Tommy Jarrell (83) of Toast, NC; and footage from the Alabama Sacred Harp Convention in Fyffe, AL, in which people of all ages gather to sing old-time shape-note hymnody.
Self - Host
This 12-part series, hosted by Mark Lizotte, aka Diesel, revisits some brilliant Australian rock and pop concerts, exploring the intriguing stories behind them and what specifically made each show so special. By talking to people who were there; band members, tour managers, authors and musicians from other bands, Mark sheds light on the special circumstances that led to each of the concerts featured, becoming such extraordinary, memorable events. Through Mark’s terrific understanding of songwriting, performance and music history, the viewer is transported on a journey of musical discovery. Viewers get to hear recollections from people who were there, including the fascinating behind-the-scenes circumstances that combined to create these exceptional evenings. Each concert is unforgettable and unique due to a distinct set of circumstances, and Mark Lizotte helps us to re-experience these distinctive musical moments with insight and a healthy dose of curiosity, irreverence and wit.
A 3-chapter documentary about the stories we tell ourselves around creativity. Using a plethora of studies from anthropology, psychology and neuroscience, the film tries to demystify the way we use our brains to create, to make art and science. The products of our minds are extraordinary, but the process in which they are brought about are in fact, quite ordinary. Shakespeare copied. Mozart copied. Picasso copied too. But we're still obsessed with originality. We're living in the most creative time in humanity's existence, so maybe it's time to rethink our preconceptions about creativity.
