Banjoes, Fiddles & Riverboats: John Hartford and the General Jackson

Show Boat

May 1936 •English

Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones: Live at the Quick

February 2002 •English

Fronted by one of the most accomplished banjo players of his time, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are captured live in concert on Live at the Quick. The versatile band performs just over a dozen songs including such radically different compositions as "Amazing Grace," "Big Country," "Hoedown," and the prelude from a Bach violin concerto.

The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken

May 2005 •English

The life and times of The Carter Family, one of the earliest and most-influential group in American country and roots music.

Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music

May 1993 •English

No single figure in American music so dominated a genre as did Bill Monroe with bluegrass. BILL MONROE: FATHER OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC features performances by Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney, the Osborne Brothers, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, John Hartford and a once-in-a-lifetime Blue Grass Boys reunion featuring Del McCoury, Chubby Wise and Bill Keith. The film features archival footage and rare 1990s performances from Monroe's final years including many of the greatest songs from his six decades of recording.

Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story

February 2019 •English

Eleven time Fiddler of the Year and even a Grammy nominee, but that's just part of the story. Though born with disabilities that left him blind and partially deaf, Michael Cleveland is considered by many to be the greatest fiddler of all time.

The Main Stream

December 2002 •English

Humorist Roy Blount Jr. takes viewers on a journey down the Mississippi River, showcasing everything from areas with spectacularly beautiful scenery to ugly and dangerously polluted stretches bordered by industrial development.

Grateful Dawg

October 2000 •English

Jerry Garcia, legendary lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead and David Grisman, virtuoso mandolinist and founder of "Dawg" music… Now, for the first time ever, the musical matrimony and extraordinary friendship of Garcia and Grisman is traced in the award-winning documentary Grateful Dawg.

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live

July 2003 •English

Thunder and Lightning

May 2015 •English

The best team never to win the College World Series? It might have been the 1985 Mississippi State Bulldogs, who produced four Major League Baseball All-Stars. Two of them, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley, became Relievers of the Year, while the other two, Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, formed the imposing one-two hitting punch known as "Thunder and Lightning." The brash and bold Clark was born in New Orleans, the son of a pool hustler, while the soft-spoken and shy Palmeiro was a son of Cuban immigrants who did his talking at the plate. As teammates at Mississippi State, they nearly propelled the Bulldogs to a College World Series title. Thirty years later, director Rory Karpf revisits those fabled Bulldogs, tracks the complicated relationship between Clark and Palmeiro, and brings closure to men who should be remembered for what they did, and not for what they didn't do.

Fourteen Days in May

November 1987 •English

A camera crew follows Edward Earl Johnson, a man falsely convicted of rape and murder, during his last 14 days on death row. Everyone involved is interviewed, Johnson himself, his family, the warden, prison guards and other inmates. We also witness the futile attempts by his attorney to save his life.

Remember the Sultana

April 2018 •English

Over 2000 Union soldiers, passengers and crew were crammed aboard the steamboat Sultana, licensed to carry 376. Graft, greed, overcrowding, a poorly maintained boat, and the Mississippi River was swollen with spring snowmelt conspired together to create a disaster. On April 27, 1865, the boat’s boilers exploded, causing the worst maritime disaster in US history.

Deep Blues

April 1992 •English

This warm 90 minutes documentary shows us unknown blues musicians from Mississippi. They play everywhere : on the streets, in dirty little bars, in a barber shop, in big clubs. The film really captures the true faces of blues and shows us that this music had nothing to do with nostalgia or record company hypes. Documentary on the Delta blues.

A Kentucky Treasure: The Osborne Brothers Story

August 2014 •English

The story of Bobby and Sonny Osborne, better known as The Osborne Brothers, one of the most successful bluegrass groups of all time. Born in Hyden, Kentucky, they achieved world wide recognition with their 1967 single, “Rocky Top.”

Morris Family Old-Time Music Festival

January 1980 •English

Captures the music and mood of the 1972 old time music festival 1973 held at the home of brothers John and Dave Morris in Ivydale, West Virginia. These annual "back porch" festivals were famous for their outstanding fiddle, banjo, and ballad music, as well as for their persistent rain and mud. About thirty musicians are featured.

The Three Pickers

July 2003 •English

For one historic evening, American music legends Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and Ricky Skaggs joined forces as The Three Pickers, to film a concert for public television. The music they made before a North Carolina audience is as relaxed as a front porch picking session. Informed by the skill and good humor of the three master musicians who contributed so much to the creation and evolution of bluegrass music. With special guest Alison Krauss.

High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music

January 1991 •English

Longtime fans of bluegrass music and those only recently discovering it will appreciate this documentary on the genre, which was born of a combination of African and Celtic sounds and is the base of American country music. This film traces the musical form from its Appalachian roots to the present. The rise, fall, and consistent revival of bluegrass chronicled through oral history and visual record, resulting in a priceless film that even casual fans are sure to enjoy.

Big Easy Express

March 2012 •English

Indie folk heroes Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Tennessee’s Old Crow Medicine Show, and Britain’s acclaimed Mumford & Sons, climbed aboard a beautiful vintage train in California, setting out for New Orleans, Louisiana on a “tour of dreams”. The resulting film from this journey is nothing short of magical. Part road movie and part concert film, BIG EASY EXPRESS bears witness to the birth of a new musical era. With poignancy and beauty, Malloy documents these incredible musicians as they ride the rails and wow the crowds, from Oakland… to New Orleans.

New Deep South: House of JXN

April 2017 •English

Contrary to the stereotype of Mississippi as a state of social conservatism and stagnation, the support, protection and love Rainbow families provide queer youth offers up an alternative view of the New Deep South.

The River

February 1938 •English

This short Depression-era documentary describes the importance of the Mississippi River to the United States and laments the environmental destruction committed in the name of progress, particularly farming and timber practices and their impact on impoverished farmers.

That's Bluegrass

January 2013 •English

Filmed on location in seven different states during 1980-1981, America’s most loved and original music genre is the subject of “That’s Bluegrass”. This care-free, fast-moving documentary lovingly examines our home-grown musical heritage from the simple front porch fiddler to famous Nashville recording stars, listening in as accomplished amateurs do some “pickin and grinning” at outdoor festivals and play songs handed down from generation to generation.