Directed by Josell Ramos • 2003 • United States
Starring Larry Levan, David Mancuso, Frankie Knuckles
The origins of New York City’s legendary underground dance-club culture are explored in this kinetic cult documentary—a vivid chronicle of a scene that became an oasis for the city’s queer and Black communities in the 1970s and ’80s. As told by the ordinary people who lived many an ecstatic night on the dance floor, Maestro pays homage to the storied clubs like Paradise Garage, The Loft, and The Gallery as well as trailblazing DJs like Larry Levan, David Mancuso, and Nicky Siano who shaped the sound of dance music for a generation to come. Bursting with passion for its subject, this essential history transmits the full-sensory euphoria of sound, rhythm, and movement.
Up Next in Radical Dreams, Underground Sounds: 13 Films Presented by Dweller
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Exhibitionist—Purpose Maker Mix
Directed by Jeff Mills • 2004 • United States
Witness the artist at work as legendary Detroit techno pioneer Jeff Mills creates a live DJ mix with astonishing, hypnotic dexterity.
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Shakedown
Directed by Leilah Weinraub • 2018 • United States
Charting the eight-year run of Shakedown, a peripatetic black lesbian strip club in Los Angeles, director Leilah Weinraub attempts “to portray the before and after of a utopic moment.” Weinraub presents a world unto itself, shaped by the desires...
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Songs for Earth & Folk
Directed by Cauleen Smith • 2013 • United States
Made in 2013, this short by Cauleen Smith is composed entirely of 16 mm and Super 8 found footage and is structured like a blues song, with a live-improvised electro-organic soundtrack created by Chicago-based band the Eternals.
