Music Shorts
12 Episodes
Sound and vision come together in perfect harmony in this dynamic selection of music-driven shorts. Encompassing jazz (THE CRY OF JAZZ, KEEPING TIME), folk (SPROUT WINGS AND FLY), soul (SHAKE! OTIS AT MONTEREY), opera (THE MUSIC OF REGRET), and the unclassifiable genre unto herself that is Björk (ALL IS FULL OF LOVE), these single-sized sonic wonders are treats for the eyes and ears alike.
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34:26Episode 1
The Cry of Jazz
Episode 1
Directed by Edward Bland • 1959 • United States
Starring George Waller, Dorothea Horton, Melinda DillonFeaturing music by Sun Ra and his Arkestra, this landmark semi-documentary explores—via a heated conversation between a group of Black and white jazz aficionados—the relationship between jazz ...
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19:09Episode 2
Shake! Otis at Monterey
Episode 2
Directed by D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus • 1986 • United States
Redding, a venerable star of Memphis’s Stax record label, seduced the "love crowd" in one of his best, and last, performances. SHAKE! OTIS AT MONTEREY, feature the entire set of this legendary musician, a performance that has ...
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31:01Episode 3
Sprout Wings and Fly
Episode 3
Directed by Les Blank • 1983 • United States
Fiddling legend Tommy Jarrell shares his gifts with a new generation.
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04:13Episode 4
All Is Full of Love
Episode 4
Directed by Chris Cunningham • 1999 • United Kingdom
Starring BjörkTwo machine-manufactured automatons experience a moment of tenderness in the music video for the single from Björk’s album “Homogenic.”
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13:25Episode 5
When it Rains
Episode 5
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1995 • United States
Charles Burnett paints a jazz- and poetry-inflected portrait of African American community and resilience via the story of a mother who enlists a musician’s help when she is evicted on New Year’s Day.
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10:55Episode 6
Date With Dizzy
Episode 6
Directed by John Hubley • 1955 • United States
Starring Dizzy GillespieJazz legend Dizzy Gillespie is hired to record the soundtrack for a television commercial—but the music has a mind of its own in this irreverent blend of live-action and animation.
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12:42Episode 7
BLACK JOURNAL: Alice Coltrane
Episode 7
Directed by Stan Lathan • 1970 • United States
In this intimate portrait—produced for a segment of National Education Television's “Black Journal” television program—legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane plays the harp and discusses her thoughts on music, spirituality, family, and the legacy of...
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05:43Episode 8
Daybreak Express
Episode 8
Directed by D. A. Pennebaker • 1953 • United States
Shot in 1953, though not completed until 1957, DAYBREAK EXPRESS was the first film D. A. Pennebaker made, a mad rush of images of New York City captured from a train and edited to the rhythm of Duke Ellington’s song of the same name. A jazz afi...
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32:31Episode 9
Keeping Time
Episode 9
Directed by Darol Olu Kae • 2023 • United States
The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (The Ark) has been a legend in Los Angeles’s avant-garde jazz community for over sixty years. But since the death of its founder, pianist and composer Horace Tapscott, the band has spent the last three decades ebbi...
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04:26Episode 10
Liberian Boy
Episode 10
Directed by Mati Diop and Manon Lutanie • 2015 • France, Canada
Starring Jules Langlade
A boy channels his inner Michael Jackson in this experimental dance film set to a pulsing electro-pop beat. -
10:44Episode 11
The Musicians
Episode 11
Directed by Kazimierz Karabasz • 1960 • Poland
Presented here is THE MUSICIANS, by Kazimierz Karabasz. Karabasz was a teacher at the Lodz Film School, where director Krzysztof Kieślowski studied, and a great influence on the young filmmaker.
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08:32Episode 12
Opera No. 1
Episode 12
Directed by Hal Hartley • 1994 • United States
Starring Patricia Dunnock, Parker Posey, Adrienne ShellyMistaken identities, miscast spells, and rollerblades abound in this comical mini-opera following the exploits of two goddesses interfering with the lives of mortals.