Frank Zappa: Music In Review

Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera

October 1985 •English

The creative processes of avant-garde composer Philip Glass and progressive director/designer Robert Wilson are examined in this film. It documents their collaboration on this tradition breaking opera.

The Life and Loves of Beethoven

January 1937 •French

Lyrical biography of the classical composer, depicted as a romantic hero, an accursed artist.

Mr. Holland's Opus

December 1995 •English

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Amadeus

September 1984 •English

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Viennese composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

About the Looking for and the Finding of Love

January 2005 •German

Director helmut Dietls and Patric Susskinds illustrate a legendary story of two lovers who cant keep themselves away from death.

Keine Lieder über Liebe

October 2005 •German

As Tobias, a young director, supposes that his girl-friend Ellen had an affair with his brother Markus, front man of "Hansen", one year ago, he decides to shoot a documentary about the band's next tour. When Ellen joins the project, everybody's emotions boil over, although they are observed all the time.

Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music

April 2007 •English

Frank Scheffer's (collage like) documentary on the American composer and rock guitarist Frank Zappa, as broadcast by VPRO in the Netherlands April 22,2007. Most of what’s on here is seen before, particularly in Roelof Kier’s 1971 documentary and/or Scheffer’s own documentary “A present day composer refuses to die”. But there is some new stuff too, particularly interviews with Denny Walley, Haskell Wekler, Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler.

Score: A Film Music Documentary

March 2017 •English

Music is an integral part of most films, adding emotion and nuance while often remaining invisible to audiences. Matt Schrader shines a spotlight on the overlooked craft of film composing, gathering many of the art form’s most influential practitioners, from Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to Quincy Jones and Randy Newman, to uncover their creative process. Tracing key developments in the evolution of music in film, and exploring some of cinema’s most iconic soundtracks, 'Score' is an aural valentine for film lovers.

The Music of Kander & Ebb: Razzle Dazzle

December 1997 •English

A profile of composing team John Kander and Fred Ebb, who have written many Broadway musicals. Highlights include interviews with Lauren Bacall, Joel Grey and others, as well as the two men themselves, plus clips of performances of their songs.

You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story

July 1990 •English

Biographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of archival material and interviews with the rich and famous that knew him, this portrait concentrates on his career and his public life events.

Boléro

March 2024 •French

Boundary-pushing Russian dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein selects renowned French composer Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet. Ravel ends up creating his greatest success ever: Boléro.

Satie and Suzanne

September 1996 •English

As the waters of the river Seine overflow their banks and surround a Parisian café, composer Erik Satie nurtures bittersweet memories of his one-time lover Suzanne Valadon.

Wandering Stars

June 2019 •French

This film follows the making of Nekfeu's 3rd album, between Paris, Japan, Greece and the United States.

Die Akte Beethoven

October 2013 •German

Immortal Beloved

December 1994 •English

A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.

Die Deutschmeister

August 1955 •German

Young Stanzi who is visiting Vienna helps a young corporal and musician to become famous for his marching song "Die Deutschmeister".

Song of My Heart

January 1948 •English

The portrait of Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky focuses on his failed love affair.

Memory Vague

June 2009 •English

Created entirely from YouTube videos and edited in Windows Movie Maker, Lopatin recomposes outmoded video graphic landscapes via repetition and abuse.

Pink Floyd: Whatever Happened to Pink Floyd? The Strange Case of Waters and Gilmour

January 2011 •English

This film traces the path Floyd took after the recording of the Animals album - an era when cracks in the band first started to show - and brings the strange story of the group and the intense relationship between Waters and Gilmour right up to date with the unexpected collaboration of these two maverick musicians at a 2010 charity event. Featuring numerous interviews.

Bauhaus 100

August 2019 •English

In 1919 an art school opened in Germany that would change the world forever. It was called the Bauhaus. A century later, its radical thinking still shapes our lives today. Bauhaus 100 is the story of Walter Gropius, architect and founder of the Bauhaus, and the teachers and students he gathered to form this influential school. Traumatised by his experiences during the Great War, and determined that technology should never again be used for destruction, Gropius decided to reinvent the way art and design were taught. At the Bauhaus, all the disciplines would come together to create the buildings of the future, and define a new way of living in the modern world.