Every night a different music genre, explored in a unique setting with live extras. What links these documentaries is their attention to social background.

IFFR 2020

Megan Wennberg

You can be a drag queen aged 9 or 11, if you just have the right make-up, clothes and attitude.

Can you be a drag queen at a young age? Of course you can: Stephan (9), Nemis (9), Jason (11) and Bracken (11) provide living proof. Only when they dress campily with fabulous make-up can they be themselves. Highlight: their performance at Montreal Pride.

Voices

Scopitone

Drag Kids

Jacob Frössén

This unusual documentary catalogues the romantic and creative life of Neu! and Kraftwerk musician Klaus Dinger.

As one of the architects of the German krautrock scene's iconic 'Motorik Beat', the repetitive drumbeat that Neu! and Kraftwerk musician Klaus Dinger prefer to call 'the endless straight on'. This lends Swedish director Jacob Frössén a nice metaphor with which to catalogue this influential German musician's eventful life.

The Heart Is a Drum

Maxim Tomash

Upbeat documentary portrait of Antoha MC, a Russian hipster, rapper and trumpeter capturing Eastern European hearts with his positive music.

Russian self-made rapper Anton makes upbeat, personal hip-hop, with increasing success. Touring Eastern Europe as Antoha MC, he needs little more than his trumpet, hamster and a good mood. This affectionate travel documentary shows how millennials all over Eastern Europe party to his equally playful and critical music.

Heel-and-Toe

Posy Dixon

The soulful life story of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, for whom recognition as a visionary musician came late in life.

The story of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a composer of dreamy, electronic soul music so far ahead of his time, that he only met with sold-out venues at the age of 74. Also the story of an inspirational trans man, who came out when homosexuality was still illegal. Above all, a warm and inspiring personality.

Keyboard Fantasies

David Kleijwegt

Soul singer Donny Hathaway's life was intertwined with the American civil rights movement: his suffering is his generation's.

Soul pioneer Donny Hathaway (1945-1979) peaked during the heyday of the American civil rights movement. However, racial tensions in the divided country increased in step with his schizophrenia. He felt hounded and committed suicide. David Kleijwegt's biographic film simultaneously portrays a generation of African Americans under enormous pressure.

Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway

Peter Dowd

Imitation as an art form by Akio Sakurai, a Japanese Led Zeppelin superfan who can play every concert down to the last detail.

Imitation as art in this film about a Japanese Led Zeppelin fan who can play everything, note for note. Particularly intriguing when he gathers other musical master imitators around him. Because are they following Led Zeppelin or the Japanese perfectionist accompanying them?

Mr. Jimmy

Katy Léna Ndiaye

Smockey's raps, poetry and performances honour the political legacy of Burkina Faso's first democratically elected and then assassinated president.

The 1987 assassination of Marxist politician Thomas Sankara prematurely ended Burkina Faso's fledgling democracy. Rapper, poet and activist Smockey keeps the spirit alive, rapping social commentary, political commitment and solidarity with the oppressed.

On a le temps pour nous

William E.  Badgley

Surprisingly, the video for 'Pass The Dutchie' was shot by a key figure in punk. <strong>Rebel Dread</strong> reveals Afro-Caribbean catalyst Don Letts' many facets.

When punk hit its peak, a smartly dressed DJ with Jamaican roots often spun reggae between the explosive band sets. And so began Don Letts' eventful career. A revealing documentary about the permanent fellow traveller for The Clash and many other bands he would go on to manage, film and accompany on stage.

Rebel Dread

Deepti Gupta

Singer Sona Mohapatra is insulted, sued and threatened, yet continues to fight for women's rights on and off stage.

Sona Mohapatra is termed insane, dangerous and subversive. She is threatened and even receives death threats, yet the Indian singer continues to fight the patriarchy in general and the sexist music industry in particular. All while continuing to develop artistically.

Shut Up Sona

Daniil Zinchenko

The Russian musical answer to Glasnost was macabre, ear-splitting noise that proved fatal to many of its makers.

Electronic noise with a death wish was the Russian alternative music scene's answer to Glasnost. Many of the musicians have since died, whether due to drugs, suicide or unknown reasons. A look back at the time when romance and punk started a deadly relationship.

Tinnitus

Gio Arlotta

Documentary about the band WITCH, hugely popular in Zambia in the 1970s, who mixed African and European music.

In the 1970s, Jagari was the most famous rock star in Zambia. Now, he earns a living as an anonymous miner. This documentary digs up his musical past, resulting in a reunion of legendary Zambian rock band WITCH: an acronym for We Intend To Cause Havoc.

IFFR 2024
25 Jan – 4 Feb 2024