SPRINGFIELD, USA provides a glimpse into the lives of an array of citizens who share their dreams and stories of the timeless world that is small-town America.
Award-winning comedian Rich Hall takes a country music journey from Tennessee to Texas to look at the movements and artists that don't get as much notoriety but have helped shape the genre over the years. With the help of prominent performers and producers including Michael Martin Murphey, Robbie Fulks and Ray Benson, Rich explores the early origins of country music in Nashville and Austin. He visits the rustic studios where this much-loved sound was born and discovers how the genre has reinvented itself with influences from bluegrass, western swing and americana.
Travel down U.S. Highway 127 from Michigan to Alabama and meet the people at the world’s longest yard sale—an annual four-day, 690-mile exchange of not only goods, but also stories.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is known by all, treasured for its powerful melody and stirring lyrics. And yet, only about 40% of U.S. citizens know all the words. And even fewer know their meaning. Join us as we travel back to 1814, when Washington D.C. was under British attack during the "Second War of Independence," and the very bricks and mortar of American democracy were reduced to smoking rubble. We examine the battle that inspired witness Francis Scott Key to immortalize its final moments, then reveal how his poem transformed into an anthem.
People's Stuff is a document of six collectors of unusual objects. Creating an environment for storytelling, the subjects reveal inner dreams and motivations as they share both their collections and their lives with the viewer. Charmaine Burrell collects Purple Cows. Fred Crane, Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Iowa, collects jaw harps (he calls the instrument a trump). George Preston collected commercial signs. Ruth Rasmussen is in the Guinness Book of World Records for her salt and pepper shaker collection. Irene Redfearn collects sea shells and Craig Starr, spark plugs. Ruth Rasmussen is in the Guinness Book of World Records for her salt and pepper shaker collection. Irene Redfearn collects sea shells and Craig Starr, spark plugs.
Doug Sahm a/k/a Sir Doug was both a Texas rock & roll legend and pioneer. True, there were others before him (Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison come to mind), but the Sir Douglas Quintet counterattacked the British invasion of the mid 1960's with their own brand of Chicano-influenced rock that they had been playing around their hometown of San Antonio. This performance, recorded October 14, 1975, came after Doug had temporarily retired the Sir Douglas name, but features original member Augie Meyer along with musical compadres Martin Steitle, John Barber, Steve McDaniels and Harry Hess.
This documentary is a journey into our own fascination, a collection of portraits of folk musicians living in New England, and a study of the ground on which their music is founded. We listen to them as they tell their stories and play their music. First and foremost, Behind a Hill is a tribute to these musicians and a rare peep into the house parties and basement jams of New England, in the northwestern corner of the USA, with the vain hope attached that maybe you, the viewer, will grow as fond of the music as we have. When we first encountered these musicians, we were overwhelmed by the quality of their musical output. We were entranced by the melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and tempos and every other element that constitutes a song (or, as is often the case, a piece of abstract drone music, heavy feedback, or someone banging a steel pipe against a bag of dirt while chanting in a yet undiscovered language, or...).
A documentary on the 1980's famous hairstyle called 'The mullet'.
Hilariously written and creative beyond the sense of the word. The Mullet Uncut delves into the shady world of the mullet and exposes these people for what they really are ...mullets. A cross country trip with filmmakers Mark Maiocco and Michael Reinwald take you into the bizzare world of mullet hunting. You'll meet former mullets pro mullets, anti mullets and mullets. With a surprise appearence by the vandals, this movie is sure to be a hit.
A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.
Heading out west to her Grandma's birthday celebration, Lynda Barry and Kevin Kling record their adventures along the way.
The DVD was recorded July 14 and 15, 2006, at the historic Cain's Ballroom and Dancehall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in front of sold-out crowds. This showcases the band's staggering musicianship and and off-the-charts energy level.
A short experimental documentary is filmed at the last drive-in movie theater in Los Angeles, located in a desolate area called the City of Industry. Floating within a backdrop of smokestacks, beacon towers and passing trains, dislocated Hollywood images filled with apocalyptic angst are re-framed and reflected through car windows and mirrors as the displacement of the radio broadcast soundtrack collides with the projections upon and surrounding the multiple screens. In VINELAND, the nocturnal landscape is seen as a border zone aglow with dreamlike illusions revealing overlapping realities at the intersection of nostalgia and alienation.
Transcendental Blues is an album released in 2000 by Steve Earle. It features Sharon Shannon on the track "The Galway Girl". The album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category.
Bigfoot: America's Abominable Snowman focuses on the legend of Bigfoot/Sasquatch throughout North America. Dr. John Napier acts as host and analyst of the evidence presented in the documentary, including Roger Patterson's famous October 1967 film allegedly showing a Bigfoot in Northern California (Bluff Creek). Numerous eyewitness testimonies are given along with expert opinions on the subject matter.
On July 7, 2019, they celebrated their sixth consecutive year of sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, the world’s only naturally-occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater, located just outside of Denver. Over 9,000 fans danced, sang and cheered — it was the perfect way to spend a warm summer evening. This special features performances of “Live and Die,” “Down with the Shine,” “Head Full of Doubt,” “High Steppin,'” “Ain’t No Man,” “Laundry Room” and more.
You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four year old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound.
Short film by filmmaker Eddie O’Keefe about the American Folklore.
Twins Finn and Will, and their best friend John, try and decide what to do with their final 9 days of summer together in their small and conservative American hometown before the trio is separated for good. Each day of their final 9 days together is based on a different coming-of-age film. Shot for less than $5000. Starring family and friends and a hometown.
At the heart of "Dreaming in America" is Lucero's story about that amazing thing, too often overlooked: a blue-collar rock group's struggle to survive. As the music industry has exploded over the past few decades and the ability to "move units" has become the defining calculus of the business, it's an incredibly emotional experience to see a band who does it because they have to, because their lives depend on it, and because they love it. There are hundreds of such bands criss-crossing the country at any given moment. This is a film about one of them-a band on the edge of greatness, working to break through. In a happy bit of rock kismet, "Dreaming in America's" cameras started rolling just as Lucero was breaking from its indie rock past and considering the treacherous leap to a major label deal unlike anything seen by the industry before. At that point, the band was between labels and, though it had sold north of 20,000 records.
High school girls Emma and Alice face a life-changing event after they leave their Sacramento home to pursue their dreams in Los Angeles.