1. Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
A concert inspired by the Coen Brothers' film, 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' which is set in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, featuring live performances of the film's music, as well as songs from the early 1960s. Performers include the Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Dave Rawlings Machine, Rhiannon Giddens, Lake Street Dive, Colin Meloy, The Milk Carton Kids, Marcus Mumford, Punch Brothers, Patti Smith, Willie Watson, Gillian Welch, and Jack White, as well as the star of the film Oscar Isaac.
It has an average vote of 7.909 on TMDB.
2. Joni Mitchell, le spleen et la colère (Joni Mitchell, le spleen et la colère)
Joni Mitchell has been called the queen of folk music and one of the biggest pop stars of the 60s and 70s. Even today, her lyrics and unique guitar style continue to inspire new generations of singers and songwriters.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
3. Sigo siendo (Sigo siendo)
A trip through the diversity of black and native Peruvian music. Character-driven film, one where the characters are integral to the nation itself. This movie delves into music and musicians, yet it's not strictly a musical; rather, it's a tapestry of seemingly disparate personal narratives woven together in a country also striving to define itself and sketch its identity
It has an average vote of 8.1 on TMDB.
4. Rhythm and Sound (Ритам и звук)
National folk dances performed by "Tanec" folk dancers) from Skopje.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
5. The Kingdom of Survival
The Kingdom of Survival explores modern skepticism in America, challenges the status quo and uncovers provocative links between survivalist philosophy, ecumenical spirituality, radical political theory, and outlaw culture. The audience is invited into a thoughtful conversation with the likes of Prof. Noam Chomsky, Dr. Mark Mirabello, Ramsey Kanaan, and the riveting final interview with beloved author, Joe Bageant. These unique thought leaders cast a rare shadow of doubt over our most blindly accepted American traditions.
6. My Prairie Home
A true Canadian iconoclast, acclaimed transgender country/electro-pop artist Rae Spoon revisits the stretches of rural Alberta that once constituted “home” and confronts memories of growing up queer in an abusive, evangelical household.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
7. Wirklich alles?!
(Wirklich alles?!)
8. Appalachian Journey
Appalachian Journey is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series . It offers songs, dances, stories, and religious rituals of the Southern Appalachians. Preachers, singers, fiddlers, banjo pickers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life there. Performers include Tommy Jarrell, Janette Carter, Ray and Stanley Hicks, Frank Proffitt Jr., Sheila Kay Adams, Nimrod Workman and Phyllis Boyens, Raymond Fairchild, and others, with a bonus of a few African-Americans from the North Carolina Piedmont. Narrated by Alan Lomax. The Association for Cultural Equity’s Alan Lomax Archive channel on YouTube additionally streams outtakes from this film: other strong performances by Sheila Kay Adams, Dellie Norton, and Cas Wallin, Lawrence Eller, the Hickses, Algia Mae Hinton and John Dee Holeman, Tommy Jarrell, John “Doodle” Thrower, and Nimrod Workman.
It has an average vote of 9.5 on TMDB.
9. Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All
An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.
10. Sprout Wings and Fly
Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
11. Neil Young: Heart of Gold
In March 2005, Neil Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Four days before he was scheduled for a lifesaving operation, he headed to Nashville, where he wrote and recorded the country folk album Prairie Wind with old friends and family members. After the successful operation and recovery period, he returned to Nashville that August to play at the famed Ryman Auditorium, once again gathering together friends and family for this special performance.
It has an average vote of 7.3 on TMDB.
12. Jemaa El Fna: Morocco's Rendezvous of the Dead
Morocco is a land of ingratiating variety and intense contrast. Its people are as diverse as its topography. The cosmopolitan Atlantic coast fuses with the Berber heritage of the northern Rif and Atlas mountain ranges as the ancient Saharan trade routes wind their way from the south into the city of Marrakech, where all points collide, creating a vibrant mixture of the traditional, the exotic and the supernatural.
13. Folk Music of the Sahara: Among the Tuareg of Libya
Folk music of the Sahara is an intoxicating experience of sight and sound captured among the Tuareg and Libyan people of North Central Africa. Filmed from the perspective of actually being one of the performers, this mind-blowing IN YOUR FACE document captures the spirit of Libyan folklore and the essence of emotion armed with pounding rhythms and wailing vocal choruses. Both men and women are featured here equally as overseers of the hybrid forms of expression where central African traditions collide with the tones and colors of the Arab world creating one of the most unique overviews of Saharan folk music ensemble and dance the outside world has ever witnessed. The diversity of faces is extraordinary, every costume is stunning, and the women are among the most beautiful on earth.
14. Mike Garson and His 88 Friends
An intimate documentary portrait of world-class improvisational and traditional pianist Mike Garson as he tours, performs, and teaches.
15. The Sfroos - Viaggio nella musica di Lombardia (The Sfroos - Viaggio nella musica di Lombardia)
(The Sfroos - Viaggio nella musica di Lombardia)
16. Beyond Tradition – The Power of Yodelling and Yoiking (Beyond Tradition – Kraft der Naturstimmen)
What is tradition? This is the question posed by yodeller and food researcher Meinrad Koch from Canton Appenzell. In search of an answer, he embarks on a journey.
17. Tales From a Golden Age: Bob Dylan 1941-1966
Documentary - Tracing his career up to the point of his 1966 motorcycle accident and subsequent disappearance from the spotlight, this unauthorized documentary uncovers a side of Bob Dylan never revealed before. Includes extensive interviews and rare footage. - Mickey Jones
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
18. Nightsong
A portrait of the Chicago Near-North nightlife scene in the mid-1960s, centering around the struggles and romantic desires of an African American singer played by long-forgotten folk sensation Willie Wright.
19. Louisiana Blues
From the camera of celebrated French documentarians Jean-Pierre Bruneau and Jose Reynes, and in the tradition of The Buena Vista Social Club, comes the exhilarating musical documentary Louisiana Blues. From the backwoods of Baton Rouge to the heart the Big Easy, creole and Cajun music have endured despite years of tumult. This film explores not only the musicians who continue to produce this music, but the climate, culture, and way of life that have shaped them. Innumerable zydeco superstars appear onscreen and deliver legendary performances, including Beau Jocque, D.L. Menard, and Zydeco Joe.
20. Harmonium in California (Harmonium en Californie)
Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.
It has an average vote of 4 on TMDB.