Stan Douglas evokes a staged reportage of a Miles Davis recording session. The decade is the 1970s and the array of stylistic and ethnic influences is apparent. Pianists, saxophonists, trumpeters, drummers and guitarists play while an entourage of girlfriends, journalists, and record label staff hang around. Context is provided by fashion styles, musical equipment, tobacco and drinks labels, while newspaper headlines offer a subtle reminder of the outside world.
Opened in 1949 by Columbia Records in an abandoned Armenian church on East 30th, the Columbia 30th Street Studio was a legendary recording studio. Nicknamed ‘The Church,’ it saw the birth of some of the most renowned recordings of the twentieth century, by the likes of Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Glenn Gould, Billie Holiday, Vladimir Horowitz and Charles Mingus. Inspired by Godard’s filmic portrait of The Rolling Stones recording Sympathy for the Devil.
Thu 26 Jan to Sat 28 Jan, 11:00-17:00, Schouwburg Kleine Zaal/Sun 29 Jan to Wed 1 Feb, 11:00-17:00, KINO 2, free admission
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Film details
- Country of production
- Canada
- Year
- 2013
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2017
- Length
- 365'
- Medium/Format
- File
