5 BEAUTIFUL FILMS ABOUT MUSIC AT 2017 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL NOW

Today we are sharing another batch of 2017 Sundance Festival films, curated by the BN Team. These are documentaries focused on iconic musicians. We’ve curated for beauty, of course. And we mean beauty in every form and capacity. Check them out below.

1. UNTITLED BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB DOCUMENTARY

It’s hard to believe that the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and Iggy Pop are still rocking to sell-out crowds on into their seventies. It’s even harder to imagine how The Buena Vista Social Club, a band of elderly Cuban jazz musicians are doing the same well into their nineties.

The band, named after a Cuban jazz club popular in 1940’s, has sold 12 million copies of their Grammy winning album and have packed concert halls around the world since their debut in 1996. The band was founded by Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder who collaborated with traditional Cuban musicians.

The Buena Vista Social Club was originally documented in a film by Wim Wenders, in 1999. Now, award-winning filmmaker Lucy Walker brings us to the band’s final, farewell tour. Walker’s beautifully crafted documentary gives the chance to reflect on Cuba’s tumultuous history as well as to look forward, from an elder perspective via the surviving band members.

2. MANIFESTO

Cate Blanchett goes all out -- exponentially -- as she plays 13 different roles in Manifesto. The film, directed by Julian Rosefeldt, presents some of the most influential and emotional artist manifestos of the 20th century.

We were especially taken with the film’s gorgeous cinematography is it gives us a unique view of the everyday world of a housewife, a factory worker, a TV anchor, and others.

3. RUMBLE: THE INDIANS WHO ROCKED THE WORLD

The thumping power chords played by Neil Young, Iggy Pop, Pete Townshend, and Jimmy Page, were all inspired by Link Wray, a Native American musician who invented the sound back in the late 1950’s, in his groundbreaking guitar classic “Rumble.”

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, a new documentary directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, features Wray and other rock, jazz and blues greats who boast Native American heritage, including Jimi Hendrix, Buffy Sainte Marie, & Charlie Patton, among others.

Filled with little-known stories, priceless concert footage, audio archives, interviews, and a killer soundtrack, this film is a treasure.

4. QUEST: THE FURY AND THE SOUND

Filmed over a decade, Quest: The Fury and the Sound, the documentary feature debut of director Jonathan Olshefski, is an intimate portrait of the Raineys, a family living in North Philadelphia, whose home music studio is a creative haven for their community.

Olshefski was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Documentary Film Grant to help fund the production of this film. The story explores issues of race and class, met by this family with a strong sense of self-determination.

5. LONG STRANGE TRIP

Never-before-seen footage of the legendary Grateful Dead makes Long Strange Trip, a new documentary by Amir bar-Lev, a thrill to watch for Deadheads. The film is a brilliant history lesson for the post-dead generation. Great soundtrack, of course.

Read more about Beautiful New Stories at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in The Most Beautiful Films of 2017 Sundance Festival: Vol. 1, Chasing Coral: A 2017 Sundance Film Festival BN Favorite and Beautiful Beehive State Stories Now

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Michael R. Perry. “Park City during Sundance Film Festival.”
2. Image: by Lucas Gath. Courtesy of Lucy Walker Films. Untitled Buena Vista Social Club Documentary, directed by Lucy Walker.
3. Image: Courtesy of Lucy Walker Films. Untitled Buena Vista Social Club Documentary, directed by Lucy Walker.
4. Image: by Barbara Schmidt. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Manifesto, directed by Julian Rosefeldt. “Cate Blanchett.”
5. Image: by Barbara Schmidt. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Manifesto, directed by Julian Rosefeldt. “Cate Blanchett.”
6. Image: by Bruce Steinberg. Courtesy of Rezolution Pictures. RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World, directed by Catherine Bainbridge & Alfonso Maiorana. “Link Wray.”
7. Image: Courtesy of Rezolution Pictures. RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World, directed by Catherine Bainbridge & Alfonso Maiorana. “Buffy Sainte-Marie.”
8. Image: by Jonathan Olshefski. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Quest: The Fury and the Sound, directed by Jonathan Olshefski.
9. Image: by Andrew Kent. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Long Strange Trip, directed by Amir Bar-Lev. “The Grateful Dead.”
10. Image: by Roberto Rabanne. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Long Strange Trip, directed by Amir Bar-Lev. “Jerry Garcia.”
11. Image: by Barbara Schmidt. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Manifesto, directed by Julian Rosefeldt.
12. Image: by BN App - Download now!
13. Image: by Travis Wise. “Sundance Film Festival.”