Playing For Change 3 - Songs Around The World

Dont Look Back

May 1967 •English

In this wildly entertaining vision of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, Bob Dylan is surrounded by teen fans, gets into heated philosophical jousts with journalists, and kicks back with fellow musicians Joan Baez, Donovan, and Alan Price.

Daybreak Express

January 1953 •English

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

Ray

October 2004 •English

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

You, the Living

September 2007 •Swedish

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

Ventanas

December 2006 •Italian

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.

A Film About Kids and Music. Sant Andreu Jazz Band

February 2013 •Catalan

A Film About Kids and Music is a project arising from a music class. Conducted by Joan Chamorro, the big band brings together children between 6 and 18 years old, around a classic jazz repertoire with lots of swing, which gained the public’s attention and sold-out some of the most important music auditoriums in Spain.

'Round Midnight

September 1986 •English

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

Saxophone Colossus

January 1998 •English

Tenor saxophone master Sonny Rollins has long been hailed as one of the most important artists in jazz history, and still, today, he is viewed as the greatest living jazz improviser. In 1986, filmmaker Robert Mugge produced Saxophone Colossus, a feature-length portrait of Rollins, named after one of his most celebrated albums.

Body and Soul: An American Bridge

January 2017 •English

A documentary about the jazz standard and it's roots in Jewish and African-American culture/

Rockers

November 1979 •English

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.

Space Is the Place

November 1974 •English

Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra return to Earth after several years in space. Ra proclaims himself "the alter-destiny", meets with inner-city youths and battles with the devil himself to save the black race.

The Glenn Miller Story

January 1954 •English

A vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.

Norman Granz’ Jazz in Montreaux presents Ella and Basie '79—"The Perfect Match"

January 1979 •English

The two musical masters swing out.

Der Pastor mit der Jazztrompete

November 1962 •German

When the Lutheran pastor Roland retires, the young priest Roll shall replace him. He plays the trumpet, loves Jazz and his methods are unconventional: From the first day on he offends the village's notables, but he doesn't care so much since he especially targets the youths, wants them to get back to the church again. However the mayor agitates against him, manages to endanger Roll's success. The conflict leads to vandalism and open violence against Roll.

Runrig: Wheel In Motion

March 2000 •English

Live footage of Runrig's concerts at Loch Lomond, Edinburgh Castle, their Western Isles tour and throughout Europe in 1991. Songs include: Always The Winner - Solus Na Madainn / The Morning Light - Healer In Your Heart - Every River - Harvest Moon - Hearthammer - Abhainn An t-Sluaigh / The Crowded River - Headlights - Edge Of The World - Alba / Scotland - Instrumental - An Cuibhle Mòr / The Big Wheel - I'll Keep Coming Home - Tear Down These Walls - Pride Of The Summer - Flower Of The West - Loch Lomond - This Beautiful Pain

White Riot

April 2020 •English

Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.

Giuli - It Was A Dream

September 2023 •Georgian

Forgotten by all, an elderly jazz singer lives through the fragments of her past. Inspired by the true story of Giuli Chokheli, the most famous female Georgian jazz singer of her time, sometimes referred to as the Georgian Ella Fitzgerald. In this movie, Giuli Chokheli plays herself at the age of 87.

The Harder They Come

September 1972 •English

Ivanhoe Martin arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, looking for work and, after some initial struggles, lands a recording contract as a reggae singer. He records his first song, "The Harder They Come," but after a bitter dispute with a manipulative producer named Hilton, soon finds himself resorting to petty crime in order to pay the bills. He deals marijuana, kills some abusive cops and earns local folk hero status. Meanwhile, his record is topping the charts.

Jazz: The Only Way of Life

December 2019 •English

Dizzy Gillespie is one of the major figures of the 20th Century's music scene. Everything was once said or written about this genius musician, founder of the Bebop. Whereas his public life is known from most, many ignore about the modest side of his character and the story of his long and deep friendship with a man rather unknown from the general public, the Swiss engineer Jacques Muyal. Through previously unrevealed archives as well as musical extracts, this documentary explores the story of the friendship between a genius trumpeter and a man crazy about Jazz.