In his five-decade career, the 1950s and 1960s were Frank Sinatra's Golden Age. He was at the top of his game in music, film and television, becoming the most popular artist on the planet.
Social & External
The people behind it
Michel Papineschi
Himself - Narrator
In 1964, Les Blank filmed 45 minutes of motorcycles for a documentary film that was never completed. Before his death in 2013, he asked his son Harrod Blank to cut the footage to the music of The 13th Floor Elevators. Edited by Ben Abrams, this film captures the vastness of the American West at a time when the motorcycle was the ultimate in highway adventure.
Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.
A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
Chet Baker silently wanders through an Antonioniesque landscape in a Felliniesque state of wonderment as his improvised trumpet solos alternate between earnestly offering the obvious and mocking the artiness of the whole affair.
Brazilian singer Maria Bethania has a 40-year singing career. A documentary shows her concerts and famous family.
Is the story of a generation of thieves who achieved their greatest victories in the sixties; their distinctive code of ethics, the various categories of delinquents inhabiting the citys streets, their alliances with high ranking police officials that allowed them to operate, the betrayals that followed, and the price they ended up paying.
Documentary short showcasing the genius of jazz greats Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, and Milt Hinton, among others.
Chart-topping jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and special guests performed two star-studded concerts at the historic Boston Symphony Hall with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on September 18 and 19, 2008. Special guests include Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Me, John Mayer, Katharine McPhee, Lucia Micarelli, Sting and Steven Tyler.
Recorded live at Open Theater East, Tokyo, Japan on July 25, 1993. Keith Jarrett piano - Gary Peacock bass - Jack De Johnette drums /// 1. In Your Own Sweet Way 2. Butch And Butch 3. Basin Street Blues 4. Solar 5. Ex-tension 6. If I Were A Bell 7. I Fall In Love Too Easily 8. Oleo 9. Bye Bye Blackbird 10. The Cure 11. I Thought About You
This music documentary celebrates the long and influential career of Long John Baldry, a pioneering British musician whose blues revivalism inspired The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and a young Eric Clapton. Featuring footage of early performances and commentaries from a number of musicians for whom he was a great influence.
The life of Frank Sinatra, as an actor and singer and the steps along the way that led him to become such an icon.
Learn the terrifying, true story about thirteen months that changed history! In November of 1966 a car full of kids encountered a creature unlike anything they'd ever seen before. In the weeks and months to follow, the monster – now known as The Mothman – was sighted again and again on country roads and around the state of West Virginia.
The bleached palette and home-movie aesthetics of Super 8 footage provide the image track for this testimonial about an illegal abortion in Mexico City in the 1960s, delivered in voiceover by the filmmaker’s mother. In its account of this intimate and disorienting memory, Lesser Choices summons a time of profound uncertainty—a moment from an era without rights—and offers a warning to the present.
"Sax Maniac: The Life and Times of James Chance" delves into the groundbreaking career of James Siegfried, better known as James Chance or James White, a seminal figure in the late 1970s and early 1980s New York City "No Wave" music scene. Produced and directed by his brother, David Siegfried, the documentary chronicles James's journey from his early days in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he first explored jazz and protopunk.
He was born different, and chose to become unique. Becoming Lucky Love follows how Luc Bruyère turned his “flaw” into strength and his life into an act of creation. Born without his left arm, he faced the violence of people’s gaze from childhood, sinking into shame and self-destruction. “I was born homosexual, without a left arm — I didn’t fit what a man was expected to be: a figure without nuance, categorical,” Luc confides. Instead of giving up, he chose to transform himself and become what he had always dreamed of: a singer and performer. With his angelic face and magnetic presence, nothing seems to resist him — yet his blazing loves and excesses marked him deeply. Now, on the verge of turning 30, he looks back without filters. Becoming Lucky Love paints the portrait of an avant-garde, captivating outsider who proves that destiny can be endlessly reinvented through strength, poetry, and self-invention.
A chronological look at the life and career of jazz musician, composer, and performer Dave Brubeck (1920-2012 ), presented through contemporary interviews, archival footage of interviews and performances, and commentary by family, fellow musicians, and aficionados. Emphases include his mother's influence, his wife's invention of college tours, his skill as an accompanist, the great quartet (with Desmond, Morello, and Wright), his ability to find musical ideas everywhere, his orchestral compositions, his religious conversion, and his unflagging sweet nature.
Tenor saxophone master Sonny Rollins has long been hailed as one of the most important artists in jazz history, and still, today, he is viewed as the greatest living jazz improviser. In 1986, filmmaker Robert Mugge produced Saxophone Colossus, a feature-length portrait of Rollins, named after one of his most celebrated albums.
Examines the life and career of singer Whitney Houston. Features never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive recordings, rare performances and interviews with the people who knew her best.
A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.
The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
Explore the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz risked everything to be together.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Tina Turner overcame impossible odds to become one of the first female Black artists to reach a mainstream international audience. Her road to superstardom is an undeniable story of triumph over adversity. It’s the ultimate story of survival – and an inspirational story of our times.
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as "The Wrecking Crew." a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby.
Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.
An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing major pop hits of the early 1960s and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations in the same time period.
For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
An intimate portrait of the small shops and shopkeepers of the Rue Daguerre in Paris, a picturesque street that has been the filmmaker’s home for more than 50 years.
The vivid and inspiring story of British film icon Michael Caine's personal journey through 1960s swinging London.
The life and tragic death of Whitney Houston.
He had one chance to show the world he was still the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Discover the story behind Elvis Presley's triumphant '68 comeback special.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
A raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.