Toypunks

Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

May 2004 •English

Japan blossomed into its Renaissance at approximately the same time as Europe. Unlike the West, it flourished not through conquest and exploration, but by fierce and defiant isolation. And the man at the heart of this empire was Tokugawa Ieyasu, a warlord who ruled with absolute control. This period is explored through myriad voices-- the Shogun, the Samurai, the Geisha, the poet, the peasant and the Westerner who glimpsed into this secret world.

City of Splendour

January 2013 •Croatian

A documentary about punk and subculture scene of Pula, Croatia from 1978 to 1991, the city that gave birth to one of the most vivid punk and alternative rock scenes in former Yugoslavia, despite having population of just over 60,000 residents.

James May: My Sisters' Top Toys

December 2007 •English

James May celebrates the toys that made his childhood hell as he opens the lid on his sisters' toy box. Sandwiched between elder sister Jane and younger one Sarah, many of their favourites he couldn't understand - or stand the sight of - or see the point of.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

February 2021 •English

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.

There Is No Authority But Yourself

January 2006 •English

A Dutch documentary about the history of the anarchist punk band Crass. The film features archival footage of the band, and interviews with former members Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher.

How to Squash a Squat

January 1989 •English

1989, New York City's Alphabet City and East Village. A year after the Tompkins Square Park Riot, squatters and their community allies try to stop the demolition of their building after an arson. Police forces occupy the neighborhood while the demolition continues. A portrait of an East Village that is no more. An homage to the voices and sounds of a neighborhood before its gentrification.

Ian Dury Sex Drugs Rock & Roll & Other Assorted Glimpses

May 2010 •English

Probably the most atypical star in the history of popular music, Ian Dury overcame Polio to be one of the most iconic figures of the late punk movement. With his supercharged live performances and unique blend of sexually poetic lyrics, Ian Dury achieved critical aclaim from both his fans and fellow artists. From his early days with Kilburn and the High Roads to his superstardom with the Blockheads, Ian Dury was a complicated cocktail of warmth, wit, bile and bombast... quite simply he was unique and unforgettable. To discover the legend that is Ian Dury this DVD contains amazing live performances of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, What A Waste, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Sweet Gene Vincent and many other hits from his heyday, alongside in-depth interviews that give an insight to the man himself.

Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk

May 2017 •English

Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk spans over 30 years of the California Bay Area’s punk music history with a central focus on the emergence of the inspiring 924 Gilman Street collective. This diverse group of artists, writers, organizers and musicians created a do-it-yourself petri dish that changed the punk scene... and the world at large.

Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects

March 2008 •English

A documentary that goes inside the dark, witty, surreal world of cult English singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock.

Kim Kardashian Theory

January 2024 •French

Kim Kardashian is the embodiment of our times. She's a total social figure. To analyze her is to talk about ourselves, our relationship with social networks, capitalism and aesthetic standards. Through the eyes of journalists Nesrine Slaoui and Guillaume Erner, this film proposes a theory in the zeitgeist, crossed by questions of race and gender. Journalist and sociologist Guillaume Erner wonders why Kim Kardashian is the most followed woman in the world on social networks "when she does nothing". With the help of journalist and director Nesrine Slaoui, he paints a portrait of this "total social character", who is famous because of... her fame. Fashion icon, star of a never-ending reality TV family saga, savvy businesswoman, future lawyer and activist outraged by the state of American prisons, the beautiful Kim, who is said to be tempted by a political destiny, is in fact not idle at all...

Paper City

August 2021 •English

Just after midnight on 10 March 1945, the US launched an air-based attack on eastern Tokyo; continuing until morning, the raid left more than 100,000 people dead and a quarter of the city eradicated. Unlike their loved ones, Hiroshi Hoshino, Michiko Kiyooka and Minoru Tsukiyama managed to emerge from the bombings. Now in their twilight years, they wish for nothing more than recognition and reparations for those who, like them, had been indelibly harmed by the war – but the Japanese government and even their fellow citizens seem disinclined to acknowledge the past.

Não é Permitido: um recorte da censura ao Punk Rock no Brasil

January 2025 •Portuguese

NEW AKINA Étranger Akina Nakamori in Europe

October 1983 •Japanese

NEW AKINA Étranger Akina Nakamori in Europe is the first video release released by Nakamori Akina. It was released on October 12, 1983.

Napalm - the sound of the industrial city

March 2013 •Portuguese

Directed by journalist Ricardo Alexandre, the documentary tells the story of the Napalm nightclub, responsible for the new wave and post-punk generation in Sao Paulo. Mixing live shows, cutting-edge DJing and videos in its "modern" internal television system, the venue quickly became a meeting point for young people who shaped the grayer side of Brazilian rock in the 80s.

Minor Threat - Live: DC Space-Buff Hall-930 Club

January 2003 •English

Minor Threat played one of its last shows at Washington DC's 930 Club in June of 1983; they would only play once more in DC. Two years later, the tapes from the 930 show were edited together and Dischord Records released them as the Minor Threat Live VHS video in 1986. Along with the 40 minute 930 performance, the DVD includes a 1982 Minor Threat show in Camden, NJ, a clip of Minor Threat's 2nd ever show at DC Space in December 1980, and excerpts from a 1983 interview with vocalist, Ian MacKaye.

I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk

November 2020 •English

Largely ignored and left to their own devices, a group of unassuming teenagers in late 80s and early 90s Sioux Falls, South Dakota created their own culture, community, and economy. And when they moved out into the world at large, they brought what they learned along with them. I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk is a story about the tenacity and ingenuity of youth, finding and following your convictions, and how the kids you least expect often make the most noise. Shot on location in eight cities and assembled from dozens of hours of archival video and hundreds of photos, the documentary features interviews with Larry Livermore (Lookout. Records), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Mike Park (Skankin' Pickle), Rebecca Hanten (Cadillac Blindside), Terry Taylor (Hammerlord), and dozens of current and former members of the Sioux Falls all ages music scene.

Exposure | Fashion Collection 2023

November 2023 •English

View the creations from the 2023 graduating cohort of fashion designers, thinkers, curators and researchers of Massey University.

Music For Psychological Liberation

January 1994 •English

A 3 hour Japanese documentary & Live gig video of the Osaka Noise/Weirdo Rock scene in 1994. Includes Boredoms & side projects (UFO or DIE, Hanatarash, Concrete Octopus), Masonna, Incapacitants & lots more! Yamatsuka Eye gives an interview in his apartment and plays a toy guitar in his bath tub.

The Clash: The Joe Strummer Story

January 2006 •English

Joe died young. But his and "The Clash's" memory live on in the programme as it seeks to explore and identify the music and the reasons behind the split of one of the most iconic punk rock groups of the day. We follow the life of one of the original members of "The Clash". Told through interviews of Joe's involvement in the ground breaking group from other band members including Mick Jones and 'Topper' Headon, we tell the story as it was.

A Living Culture

September 2022 •English

A short documentary with funk, fashion and noise, with intimate stories from students and artisans from New Zealand and India pursuing a responsible fashion future.