Dock Of The Bay. Music Documentary Film Festival 6th - 12th January 2014

Director: Tom Berninger
Year: 2013
Country: United States
Length: 75 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: The National
Editors: Tom Berninger, Carin Besser
Sound designer: Paul Hsu, Branka Mrkic, Luciano Vignola, Allan Zaleski
Music composer: Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, The National
Producers: Craig Charland, Matt Berninger, Carin Besser
Film company: American Mary Productions
Distributor: Monoduo Films

In 2010, rock band The National were about to embark on the biggest tour of their career. After ten years as a band, and five critically acclaimed albums, they were finally enjoying wider recognition. Lead singer Matt Berninger invited his younger brother, Tom, to join the tour’s crew. A budding horror filmmaker, Tom – who is nine years younger than Matt and listens exclusively to heavy metal – decided to bring his camera along. Tom’s at sea in the world of indie rock, and living in his brother’s shadow brings out the younger sibling in him – he drinks, complains, and struggles to balance his ambition with his tour responsibilities. The result is a film about brothers and about making something of your own.

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Director: Jeff Holett and Mark Covino
Year: 2012
Country: United States
Length: 96 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: Death
Editors: Rich Fox
Sound designer: Joe Egan, Zach Martin
Music composer: Tim Boland, Sam Retzer
Producers: Mark Covino, Jeff Howlett, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Mann, Scott Mosier, Matthew Perniciaro
Film company: American Mary Productions
Distributor: Haven Entertainment

Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was a band called Death. Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death’s music— and band name—too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger. Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell...the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers.

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Director: Juan Carlos de la Rubia
Year: 2012
Country: Spain, Cuba
Length: 55 min.
Original language: Spanish
Editors: David Schafer
Sound designer: Gilles Martin

The Cuban underground hip hop movement opens up a second doorway of hope to change the social and political setting. Habana Flou, Calle Real 70, 2ª Puerta is a feature-length documentary on the movement, with a soundtrack featuring a new musical compilation from the clans and clandestine studios of Havana. The beats of Los Aldeanos, Papá Humbertico, Randy Acosta, Escuadrón Patriota, Silvito El Libre, Danay Suárez and company largely drive the thread of this story, which is set over three years in a settlement on the outskirts of Havana.

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Director: Mariano Vricella
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 78 min.
Original language: Spanish, English
Editors: Mariano Vricella
Sound designer: John Agnello
Music composer: Capsula (Martín Guevara, Coni Duchess, Natxo Solimo)
Film company: Carismático Films, Gaztelupeko Hotsak

In March 2012, Capsula recorded their own cover version of the classic David Bowie album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders form Mars" at the Water Music Recorders in Hoboken (New Jersey). This is a sonic and a dreamlike, personal tribute to a masterpiece created by one of the greatest artists of all time who branded for life the sound and influences of this band. John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, Dinosaur Jr., Mick Jagger, Patti Smith, Roger Waters, The Kills...) was commissioned with the recording of the project.

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Director: Elena Goatelli, Angel Esteban
Year: 2013
Country: Spain, Italy
Length: 87 min.
Original language: Japanese, Spanish, German, Italian, English
Editors: Antonio Frutos, Angel Esteban
Sound designer: David Espinosa, Fernando Pocostales
Music composer: Tim Boland, Sam Retzer
Producers: Elena Goatelli
Film company: Kottom Films

In Italy, more than 130 young people from all over the world take part in a week-long, nerve-wracking competition to be crowned best conductor. The camera follows the preparations of five finalists, their disappointments and triumphs, and above all their love of music and the complex art of conducting a symphony orchestra. Even though they stand with their backs to the jury, the knowledge that all eyes are on them makes conducting a piece of classical music an epic struggle. From the concert hall, the beady-eyed members of the jury follow every gesture and movement of the participants, who behind the scenes panic about blackouts, an unknown score or a poorly rehearsed piece of music. And then there is the performance itself: did the Bartok really sound as the composer intended? Not all conductors relish their place in the limelight, but the strength of their love of music quickly overcomes this stage fright. In front of the camera, the international candidates talk about their passion for music and the prospects their vocation offers, and the interviews are intercut with footage of the competition. The calm, soothing sounds of the classical compositions contrast more and more starkly with the rising tensions in the run-up to the final.

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Director: Víctor Iriarte
Year: 2012
Country: Spain
Length: 65 min.
Original language: Spanish
Leadings: Maite Arroitajauregi Mursego
Editors: Marine de Contes y Víctor Iriarte
Sound designer: Ander Barriuso y Víctor Iriarte
Music composer: Mursego
Producers: cajaconcosasdentro & Krea Expresión Contemporánea

"I told you I was working on a vampire movie and I wanted you to do the soundtrack. You asked me whether it was a sad film and I told you a little. Then you asked me whether it was a film about us and I said yes.”

A vampire movie. A love story. A musical.

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Director: Xesc Cabot, Pep Garrido
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 97 min.
Original language: Catalan, Spanish
Leadings: Juli Bustamante, Lucas Balanzá, Eduardo Guillot, Alberto Tarín, Santi Carrillo, Tico Balanzá, Puchi Balanzá, Amanda García, José Antonio Rivas, Maderita, Fred i Son
Editors: Xesc Cabot, Pep Garrido
Sound designer: Cristian Pallejà
Producers: Jan Badosa, Pol Hortal, Xesc Cabot, Pep Garrido
Film company: Atiende Films

In 1981 Juli Bustamante signed “Cambrers”, one of the essential records of what was called the magic triangle of meditarranean rock, along with Remigi Palmero’s “Humitat relativa” and Pep Laguarda’s “Brossa d’ahir”. Today, after 12 LPs and a 30-year career, survives among drawings, poems and songs in Marchalenes district of Valencia while a new generation of young musicians approach his work and claim its universality. Xesc Cabot, member of Fred i Son and one of the promoters of this claim, co-directs with Pep Garrido “Bustamante Perkins” a hybrid between the personal portrait and the musical documentary, which is actually a walk with Juli and the people around him through the story of his life and his everyday landscapes.

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Director: Dani López
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 53 min.
Original language: Spanish, Euskera
Editors: Dani López
Sound designer: Lolo Ruiz
Music composer: Los Santos, Adrenalized, Hell Division, Yaw, Microcosmos, Facal Orchestra, ZeRevengers, Bort, Lobo Electrico…

Documentary about twenty years of existence of Kampsa, squatted house in 1992, on the border between Pasaia and San Sebastian, in Basque Country. Music, skateboarding and post-nuclear environments, to remember some stories that would otherwise end up sinking forever, in the mud of Pasaia. Two decades of self-management and shared illusions. Two decades of parties, gigs and activities. Two decades of resistance, and after all, two decades of dreams to be fulfilled, on the basis of desire and selflessness.

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Director: Javier Polo
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 75 min.
Editors: Yago Muñiz
Sound designer: Álex Bordanova
Producers: Lina Badenes
Film company: Turanga Films S.L.

Europe in 8 Bits is a documentary that explores the world of chip music, a new musical trend that is growing exponentially throughout Europe. The stars of this musical movement reveal to us how to reuse old videogames hardware like Nintendo’s GameBoy, NES, Atari ST, Amiga and the Commodore 64 to turn them into a tool capable of creating a new sound, a modern tempo and an innovative musical style. This is a new way of interpreting music performed by a great many artists who show their skills in turning these “limited” machines designed for leisure in the 80’s into surprising musical instruments and graphical tools. It will leave nobody indifferent.

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Director: Pip Piper
Year: 2013
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 50 min.
Original language: English
Editors: David Cawley
Producers: Pip Piper and Rob Taylor
Film company: Blue Hippo Media

Last Shop Standing inspired by the book of the same name by Graham Jones takes you behind the counter to discover why nearly 2000 record shops have already disappeared across the UK. The film charts the rapid rise of record shops in the 1960′s / 70s and 80’s, the influence of the chart, the underhand deals, the demise of vinyl and rise of the CD as well as new technologies.

Where did it all go wrong? Why were 3 shops a week closing? Will we be left with no record shops with the continuing rise of downloading?

Hear from over 20 record shop owners and music industry leaders as well as musicians including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Norman Cook, Billy Bragg, Nerina Pallot, Richard Hawley and Clint Boon as they all tell us how the shops became and still are a part of their own musical education, a place to cherish and discover new bands and new music.

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Director: Álvaro Fierro, Joseba Gorordo
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 66 min.
Original language: Spanish, Euskera
Leadings: Álvaro Heras, Fernando Gegúndez, Ángel Silveiro, Iñaki Uriate, Iñaki Elorriaga, Gari Gamarra, Juancar Parlange, Belén Mijangos, Isabel Fernández, Estíbaliz Hernández, Javi Letamendía, Iñigo Romera, Ricardo Andrade, Jesús Valdaliso, Unai Fresnedo, Roberto Moso, Koldo Serra
Editors: Diego Urruchi
Music composer: Zarama, Eskorbuto, Los Clavos, Bonzos, Parabellum, El Inquilino Comunista, Lord Sickness, The Gravestones, Cancer Moon, Rufus, Electrobikinis, Elsso Rodríguez...
Producers: Diego Urruchi, Raúl López Ortega
Film company: Media Attack

160 meters is the distance between the two banks of the estuary of Bilbao. An economic, social and cultural approach at two ways of looking at life, separated- or joined- by rock, in an environment of deindustrialization and the construction of a new city in the late 80s and early 90s, parallel to the construction of the Guggenheim Museum.

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Director: Elise Salomon
Year: 2013
Country: United States
Length: 77 min.
Original language: English
Editors: Ryan Brown
Sound designer: Scott R. Lewis
Music composer: Dominic Bisignano
Producers: Jessica Golden
Film company: Let's Get Wilder Productions, LLC

Los Wild Ones follows the lives of Reb Kennedy and the artists on his LA based indie label, Wild Records. Wild is composed of young Hispanic musicians who write and perform 50's rock 'n' roll. The film delivers an honest look at the label's ethos and unconventional but tight-knit family of Reb, the Irish father figure, and his 'kids'. Reminiscent of the early days of Sun Records and the influence that label had on popular music, Wild mirrors that journey. The bond between Reb and his artists is unparalleled in the music industry. Just like every family system, there is a fair amount of dysfunction but they manage to stick together. The label is Reb Kennedy and Reb is Wild's founding father. A purist and vinyl fanatic, he is extremely reluctant to embrace the digital age. He is a genius in many ways and has created so much of what the record label is, who the artists are: their style, their voices, their image. Realistically however, Reb must adopt newer ways to take Wild Records and these talented artists to the next level.

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Director: Ryan White
Year: 2013
Country: United Kingdom, United States
Length: 87 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: Freda Kelly, Tony Barrow, Billy Hatton, Billy Kinsley, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr
Editors: Helen Kearns
Sound designer: Henry Auerbach, Justin Richard
Music composer: Paul Koch
Producers: Jessica Lawson, Kathy McCabe, Ryan White, Helen Kearns, Peggy McCabe
Film company: Tripod Media

Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. Though she had no concept of how far they would go, Freda had faith in The Beatles from the beginning, and The Beatles had faith in her.

History notes that The Beatles were together for 10 years, but Freda worked for them for 11. Many people came in and out of the band's circle as they grew to international stardom, but Freda remained a staple because of her unfaltering loyalty and dedication. As the Beatles' devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution – advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in history.

In Good Ol' Freda, Freda tells her stories for the first time in 50 years. One of few documentaries with the support of the living Beatles and featuring original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the world of music.

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Director: Àlex Julià Rich
Year: 2013
Country: Spain
Length: 62 min.
Original language: Catalan, Spanish, English
Leadings: Sideral, Gabi Ruiz, Zero, Angel Molina, Jeff Mills
Editors: Andrés Gil
Sound designer: Albert Clemente
Producers: Berta Segura, Sebas Jodar
Film company: Igloo films

Nitsa 94/96: el giro electrónico [Nitsa 94/96: The Electronic Tour] is a homage to the Nitsa club, those who thought of it and all those who made it possible.

In 1994, the Nitsa club with its iconic revolving dancefloor played host to musical greats like Jeff Mills, Darren Emerson, Ian Pooley, Laurent Garnier, Derrick May and Carl Craig, up to then unknown to most of the audience but who were already making a name for themselves as big stars on the electronic circuit.

The NITSA club also saw the birth of DJ Sideral, who revolutionised the Barcelona indie and underground scene with his vibrant, eclectic sessions fusing electronica and pop to create a surprising new musical style.

A hitherto non-existent industry grew up around this club. Music magazines caught on, graphic design took to the streets and the flyer became an icon of club culture. This was a ground-breaking, creative moment that inspired festivals of the stature of Sónar and Primavera Sound and marked the youth of a whole generation for ever.

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Director: Mick Gochanour (2012), Peter Whitehead (1965)
Year: 2012
Country: United States, United Kingdom
Length: 64 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts
Editors: Nathan Punwar (2012), Peter Whitehead (1965)
Sound designer: Mariuz Gabinski (2012)
Producers: Robin Klein (2012), Andrew Loog Oldham (1965)
Film company: ABKCO Films, Inc.

A rare gem. The first ever documentary on The Rolling Stones. Peter Whitehead, captured our The Rolling Stones over the course of two days in September 1965, on tour in Ireland. This fantastic 50-minute piece never premiered, and has earned mythical status over time among the band's fans. In 2012, director Mick Gochanour restored the material and added some extras. The result exceeds all expectations; here is a band caught in their last moments of pure candour, unwittingly facing a new dawn, (none of the band members sees any great future in the rock'n'roll business). The film has sublime moments, like when one of the fans reveals his preferences, or the Stones planting the seeds for Out of our Heads, but it's in the words of the band things get real sweet; Jagger admits that he's acting all the time, the immaculate Brian Jones confesses that "I would never want to be a pop star, it would not satisfy me, neither artistically nor personally"). It's a real privilege to open the 2012 edition of this festival with such a treasure trove of images, words and songs.

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Director: Jay Bulger
Year: 2012
Country: United States
Length: 90 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: Ginger Baker, Cream, Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana
Editors: Abhay Sofsky
Sound designer: Reilly Steele
Producers: Nick Friedman, Julie Goldman, Andrew S. Karsch, Fisher Stevens
Film company: Insurgent Media

Seventy-three year old Ginger Baker is a true drum legend. He became famous as the drummer for Cream and Blind Faith, and is viewed as the inventor of heavy metal. Widely praised as a musician, his character is unfortunately as legendary as his talent. Baker is a notorious drug addict and ego tripper, and he seems to have fought or argued with just about everyone. That much is clear right from the first scene, when Baker throws a huge fit and attacks the director with his walking stick. The result is both a bloody nose and a compelling introduction to the fiery subject of the film: nobody messes with Mr. Baker. Director Jay Bulger goes about his first documentary on a grand scale. In addition to interviewing Baker countless times, he also gives many musicians who have played with him a chance to speak, including Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Carlos Santana. The wealth of archive footage makes it crystal clear just how great Baker's role in the music world has been, but also how impossible it must have been to work or live with the man. Once again, virtuosity and insanity turn out to be separated by a very thin line.

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Director: Shane Meadows
Year: 2013
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 96 min.
Original language: English
Leadings: Shane Meadows, Ian Brown, Gary Mounfield, John Squire, Alan Wren
Editors: Matthew Gray, Chris King, Tobias Zaldua
Sound designer: Phil Cape, Jon Gilbert, Neil Grainey, David Mitchell
Producers: Mark Herbert
Film company: Warp Films

"You know and I know, but you can't write it down, can you?" This is a fan's reply to the question of what makes the Stone Roses so special. "But there's a reason why I still have my hair like this, 20 years later," he laughs, pointing to his receding Madchester haircut, "and why I'm here while the child-minder is at home looking after my baby." He is one of the fortunate few who have gotten a free ticket for a very exclusive surprise concert: the first in a series of reunion gigs by the band that was a permanent fixture on festival stages throughout Europe with its mix of 1960s guitar pop and 1980s dance beats, only to break up in 1996 due to internal strife. In The Stone Roses: Made of Stone, director Shane Meadows - who has captured the British working class in feature films like Dead Man's Shoes and This Is England – concentrates on the Manchester scene that spawned both the band and its original army of fans. He is not afraid to let his own adoration show – a love of the band colors the film, which rather than picking at old wounds allows the audience to share in the pleasure of rehearsals, life on the road together and the euphoria of a sold-out gig.

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C.C. Intxaurrondo Monday - Fiday: 16,00 - 20,30. Except when there are activities.
Organizers: Qualia, Donostia Kultura.

Frank Zappa once said that "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” On the other hand, he didn’t say anything about drawing about music. Maybe he thought it was a good idea, or maybe he thought it was even crazier. We’ll never know for sure. In any case, that’s just what this exhibition is about: drawings about music. Or of musicians, to be more precise.

Oscar Fernández of Discos de Kirlian, thought it would be a good idea to get into book publishing, as part of his plan for world domination. For some strange reason he thought I was the right author to launch his first title.

On this basis, we decided on the concept for the book and established the criteria for choosing the bands to include in it. We fixed a time limit so that it wouldn’t take too long and laid down a basic principle that was volatile and subjective: admiration. So I can say today that I’m a fan of all the bands portrayed in the book. It might not have been the best criterion, but if the book serves for somebody to discover Atomizador or Prisma en Llamas (there are others that are already well-known, like Triángulo de Amor Bizarro or Klaus and Kinski) then it’ll have been worth it.

These are drawings created out of appreciation for musicians who have stirred strong emotions in us. Not all of them are in here, of course. But we never set out to make this an encyclopaedic work.

What this exhibition contains is, like the subtitle of the book, “22 musical drawings”. Just that. The work of somebody who draws the bands he listens to. I hope you enjoy it.

At the end of the sixties, a mysterious musician was discovered in a bar in Detroit by two producers were captivated by his moving tunes and prophetic words. They recorded two records that they thought would make the artist one of the greats of his generation. But success never came along. In fact, the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumours about a horrifying on-stage suicide. While the figure of the artist fell into oblivion, one of his vinyls made it to South Africa under Apartheid, spread throughout the country in bootleg recordings, and over the next twenty years Rodríguez became a phenomenon, an icon of freedom and the anti-establishment scene. Much later on, two South African fans set out to discover what really happened to their hero. Their investigations led them to an even more extraordinary story about the legend of an artist known simply as "Rodríguez". This is a film about hope, inspiration and the power of music.

Kevin Macdonald joined forces with the Marley family, Chris Blackwell and Steve Bing to direct what is to be the definitive authorised film about the life, legacy and global impact of one of the most influential singers, songwriters, musicians and activists in history: Bob Marley. Marley is the first film in which Bob’s family have allowed their private material on the singer to be used.

Neil Young beat John Ford. Let’s be loud for a moment (the only time this concept comes up in another concert where old Young becomes the size of his feelings): “The man who shot the man who shot The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. Get that? How did it happen? Young doesn’t just tell the story: he retells it, to the point where, while he doesn’t tattoo it on cinema history, he makes it a kind of Turin shroud among the moaning that often cloaks live music on the screen. For the third time Demme is behind the camera to try to contain Youngzilla; Young is behind his guitar spitting the friendliest fire a man can shoot. On Young’s second audiovisual outing with the album Le Noise (the first was an indestructible exercise in minimalism, a real atomic ant), the old guy wrong foots us again. Houdini: he makes the cinema a place we want to escape from to be there in Toronto seeing him defying the passing of time, becoming an emotional folk memory, without doing anything more than showing us how all his journeying has left him.

Neil Young, Tom Petty, Metallica, Pat Benatar, Cheap Trick, Guns'n’Roses, Fleetwood Mac, Rage Against The Machine and Nine Inch Nails are just some of the names who recorded some of their best-known albums at the legendary Sound City studios in California. Seen as the number one analogue recording studios, they opened in 1972 and last year the frontman of Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl, bought their Neve 8028 recording desk, and immediately came up with the idea of making a documentary about its history and influence. To do this, he invited the musicians who had recorded on it – including himself, as the legendary Nirvana album Nevermind was recorded in the studio – and the result is Sound City.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town takes us into the studio with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for the recording of this landmark album. Grammy and Emmy award-winner Thom Zimny had access to extensive material never seen before, filmed between 1976 and 1978. He captures rehearsals and recording sessions that let us hear the songs in their most primitive state. For those who don’t know much about Springsteen, this film opens the door to a rich musical world. For his fans, it’s a trip to paradise.

A compilation of unpublished footage, interviews and recordings of every stage in the career of one of the greatest American bands of all time. This career stretches over two decades and director Cameron Crowe travelled with them over the last two years to create this wonderful film.

The multifaceted artist Arrate Rodríguez was developing the creation of a musical group formed exclusively by girls, and the recordings of all their movements.

With his peculiar and ironic sense of humour she said the following: "If Andy Warhol created The Velvet Undergroud. I am going to create the model of my band Zuloak in the same way, taking care of the aesthetic details, the musical direction, etc...".

However, things must have gotten twisted at some moment and she decided to abandon her "experiment". All the material that she had recorded she gave to her sister Eider to give to the musician and filmmaker Fermin Muguruza, with a video message sent from San Francisco.