Documentary, Music
This documentary is a journey into our own fascination, a collection of portraits of folk musicians living in New England, and a study of the ground on which their music is founded. We listen to them as they tell their stories and play their music. First and foremost, Behind a Hill is a tribute to these musicians and a rare peep into the house parties and basement jams of New England, in the northwestern corner of the USA, with the vain hope attached that maybe you, the viewer, will grow as fond of the music as we have. When we first encountered these musicians, we were overwhelmed by the quality of their musical output. We were entranced by the melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and tempos and every other element that constitutes a song (or, as is often the case, a piece of abstract drone music, heavy feedback, or someone banging a steel pipe against a bag of dirt while chanting in a yet undiscovered language, or...).
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
You Gave Me A Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard
May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers
Selva. A Portrait of Parvaneh Navaï
Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante
Black Hole Radio
Under a Bridge
Dont Look Back
Animal Charm: Golden Digest
Negativland: No Other Possibility
Between Science and Garbage
Son of Torum
Openland
A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America
Sylvia Kristel – Paris
The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks
Playing for Change 3 - Songs Around the World
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
The Music We Call Country
All the Mountains Give
SIMILAR MOVIES
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
IMDB 6.7 | Feb , 2020
A portrait of the lives of a disparate group of patrons and employees at an American watering hole today.You Gave Me A Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard
IMDB 10 | Apr , 2019
You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four year old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound.May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers
IMDB 7.7 | Sep , 2017
An intimate portrait of the acclaimed North Carolina band The Avett Brothers, charting their decade-and-a- half rise, while chronicling their present-day collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin on the multi-Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness.”Selva. A Portrait of Parvaneh Navaï
IMDB 10 | Jan , 1982
Trance dances and out of body projection. In front of the camera, Parvaneh Navaï becomes a mediator who enters in contact with and immerses into the energies of Nature, while her own energy radiates and echos in the forest ("selva"). The camera amplifies and expands her presence, transforming the forest into an imaginary space. The camera becomes a painter's brush.Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante
IMDB 5.5 | Aug , 1977
Gérard Courant applies the Lettrist editing techniques of Isidore Isou to footage of late 70's pop culture. Courant posits that his cinema offers an aggressive détournement to the French mainstream, reifying a Duchampian view of film: "I believe in impossible movies and works without meaning... I believe in the anti-movie. I believe in the non-movie. I believe in Urgent... My first full length movie that is so anti-everything that I sometimes wonder if it really does exist!"Black Hole Radio
IMDB 0 | Sep , 1992
Black Hole Radio is an installation that consists of taped confessions of callers of the New York City Phone Confession Line and video images. The Phone Confession Line is based on anonymous callers ringing to confess on things they had done or thought like adultery, theft, murder or regrets. Thereafter anybody could call and listen to the confessions. Although making a confession was free, listening to a confession costs money. After Cohen got his hands on the confessions, he used them as an audio heartbeat to accompany video-images of every day life in New York City he had taken over the years. This installation is a portrait of the city with its dark secrets, hushed voices and nocturnal images. In this way Cohen tries to bring across an experience to the viewer that relies on absence, waiting and the effort to hear something in the dark.Under a Bridge
IMDB 0 | Mar , 1974
In this tape, Ko Nakajima and Video Earth Tokyo interview a homeless man. The subject is initially angry and frustrated, but gradually opens up and shares stories about his life. Under A Bridge was later broadcast on cable television.Dont Look Back
IMDB 7.4 | May , 1967
In this wildly entertaining vision of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, Bob Dylan is surrounded by teen fans, gets into heated philosophical jousts with journalists, and kicks back with fellow musicians Joan Baez, Donovan, and Alan Price.Animal Charm: Golden Digest
IMDB 5 | Jan , 1996
Animal Charm makes videos from other people's videos. By compositing TV and reducing it to a kind of tic-ridden babble, they force television to not make sense. While this disruption is playful, it also reveals an overall 'essence' of mass culture that would not be apprehended otherwise. Videos such as Stuffing, Ashley, and Lightfoot Fever upset the hypnotic spectacle of TV viewing, revealing how advertising creates anxiety, how culture constructs "nature" and how conventional morality is dictated through seemingly neutral images. By forcing television to convulse like a raving lunatic, we might finally hear what it is actually saying.Negativland: No Other Possibility
IMDB 8 | Jan , 1989
In an effort to cure her smoking habit a middle-aged woman discovers that she can communicate with her long lost son while watching a Halloween safety program on TV. After suffering a nervous breakdown, her husband, a used car salesman, is revitalized when he travels back in time to drive the first car he ever sold. Seventeen years later a powerful canned food manufacturer crashes the same car into a toaster truck while endorsing a brand of yams on live TV. At the funeral his clergyman experiences a crisis of faith when he and a lifelike Mexican continue their search for a married couple who have befriended an insect who enjoys drinking lime soda. They later meet a young man whose bizarre murder scheme involves four innocent members of an experimental rock band who have all given up smoking.Between Science and Garbage
IMDB 5.2 | Apr , 2004
A whirlwind of improvisation combines the images of animator Pierre Hébert with the avant-garde sound of techno whiz Bob Ostertag in this singular multimedia experience, a hybrid of live animation and performance art.Son of Torum
IMDB 0 | Feb , 1989
In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.Openland
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2009
Openland is an art film guided by issues surrounding micro states and its derivative definitions. Through intertwining interviews, meta-narratives, and digital landscapes, Openland unfurls a dialogue between consciousness, individuality and collectivity.A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America
IMDB 0 | Jun , 2014
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is known by all, treasured for its powerful melody and stirring lyrics. And yet, only about 40% of U.S. citizens know all the words. And even fewer know their meaning. Join us as we travel back to 1814, when Washington D.C. was under British attack during the "Second War of Independence," and the very bricks and mortar of American democracy were reduced to smoking rubble. We examine the battle that inspired witness Francis Scott Key to immortalize its final moments, then reveal how his poem transformed into an anthem.Sylvia Kristel – Paris
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2003
Sylvia Kristel – Paris is a portrait of Sylvia Kristel , best known for her role in the 1970’s erotic cult classic Emmanuelle, as well as a film about the impossibility of memory in relation to biography. Between November 2000 and June 2002 Manon de Boer recorded the stories and memories of Kristel. At each recording session she asked her to speak about a city where Kristel has lived: Paris, Los Angeles, Brussels or Amsterdam; over the two years she spoke on several occasions about the same city. At first glance the collection of stories appears to make up a sort of biography, but over time it shows the impossibility of biography: the impossibility of ‘plotting’ somebody’s life as a coherent narrative.The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2020
On July 7, 2019, they celebrated their sixth consecutive year of sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, the world’s only naturally-occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater, located just outside of Denver. Over 9,000 fans danced, sang and cheered — it was the perfect way to spend a warm summer evening. This special features performances of “Live and Die,” “Down with the Shine,” “Head Full of Doubt,” “High Steppin,'” “Ain’t No Man,” “Laundry Room” and more.Playing for Change 3 - Songs Around the World
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2014
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
IMDB 6.7 | Feb , 2020
A confessional, cautionary, and occasionally humorous tale of Robbie Robertson's young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music, The Band.The Music We Call Country
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2026
Unearth the story behind one of America's most iconic musical genres. This unforgettable documentary explores the artists, events and technology that led to the discovery of the first superstars of Country Music - Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. Witness the groundbreaking field recording sessions of the early 1900s and explore the revolutionary technology that captured the raw, heartfelt sounds of a burgeoning musical movement. Meet the pioneering artists whose enduring talents and contributions have forever shaped the landscape of music history. Through rare archival photos and intimate interviews, uncover the stories and sounds that continue to resonate through generations. Don't miss this unforgettable exploration of country music's profound legacy and its indelible impact on the world.All the Mountains Give
IMDB 8 | Aug , 2024
A powerful account of the Kolbari covert goods traden between the Kurdish cities and towns of Iran and borders of Iraq. The film follows Hamid and Yasser over six years as they contend with the life threatening conditions they and their families have to face to survive. A rare insight into the plight of the Kurdish people, this is an elegant portrait of a marginalised people, where the palpable sense of risk and danger is contrasted with the gentle rhythms of family life under harsh conditions.