1. 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.
2. To Hear Your Banjo Play
A short film about Pete Seeger and the birth of banjo music throughout the Southern United States.
It has an average vote of 4.5 on TMDB.
3. The History of Sound
Two young men during World War I set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen.
4. 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 7.344 on TMDB.
5. Wagakki Band: Dai Shinnenkai 2018 Yokohama Arena - Asu e no Kokai - (和楽器バンド 大新年会2018横浜アリーナ ～明日への航海～)
Features Wagakki Band's concert held in January 2018 at Yokohama Arena. Features Yo Hitoto as guest.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Fleisch ist mein Gemüse (Fleisch ist mein Gemüse)
(Fleisch ist mein Gemüse)
It has an average vote of 5.6 on TMDB.
10. Yesterday and Forever (Vakar ir visados)
A poetic film about ancient Lithuanian traditions and rituals.
11. Ole Paus – 70 Years (Ikke gjør som mora di sier – en hyllest til Ole Paus)
Norwegian musician Ole Paus turns 70 years old and is celebrated by a long line of artist friends who sing his songs in the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
12. 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.
13. Nat Pwe: Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul
In Burma, many people believe in ghost spirits called NATs. They are said to possess the power to assist or devastate the lives of those who recognize them. A PWE is a ceremony held to appease a Nat. Pwes are arranged daily throughout Burma for many purposes including the achievement of success in business, a happy marriage, or improving one's health. A Nat is summoned through a Kadaw; the flamboyant and charismatic master of the Pwe dressed in elegant costume. The Kadaw is a spirit medium, dancer, storyteller, and magician who exposes the crowd to a living incarnation of the Nat brought forth through opening ritual and careful observance of tradition.
14. 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.
15. Quietest Boy – The Lillebjørn Nilsen Story (Stilleste gutt – Lillebjørn Nilsens egen historie)
A documentary portraying the life of Norwegian folk singer Lillebjørn Nilsen. Lillebjørn's talent brought him into the limelight as a shy 15-year-old. This is his own story about music, fame and an eternal longing for peace.
16. 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.
17. Richard Thompson Band: Live in Providence
This show shot in 2003 at Lupo's and unpretentiously directed by Eric Masunaga captures Thompson and his band in a top notch performance. The only flaw with the DVD is it's too short--many of Thompson's shows can go well over the two hour mark and I suspect that many songs are missing from this terrific show.
18. The Albion Band
A rare 1979 BBC Arena documentary on the Albion Band, Ashley Hutchings and the development of English folk rock up to that time.
19. Courage & Patience & Grit: Great Big Sea in Concert
Courage & Patience & Grit is a DVD/CD set released by the band Great Big Sea on November 14, 2006. It contains video of the live performance from a concert at the Empire Theatre in Belleville, Ontario along with music videos for the songs "Captain Kidd", "When I Am King", "Lukey", and "Shines Right Through Me". The live performance was recorded during their The Hard and the Easy tour.
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.
