Special Collection

AFRO-PUNK explores race identity within the punk scene. This film tackles hard questions, such as issues of loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating and black power. We follow the lives of four people who have dedicated themselves to the punk rock lifestyle. They find themselves in conflicting situations, living the dual life of a person of color in a mostly white community. Afro-Punk features perfo ... More

Arctic Hip Hop

Randy Kelly

Producer: Jacques Ménard & Micheline Shoebridge

2007, 44 min., Color, Canada

In Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, an isolated community of 1500 mainly Inuit residents, Hip-Hop has been popular for many years. But it’s the glamourized gangsta lifestyle on display in music videos that many of the local kids choose to emulate.

Capitalizing on the popularity of Hip-Hop, social worker and longtime B-boy Stephen Leafloor has been bringing positive Hip Hop workshops to Northern ... More

Blaze: The Truth Through Hip Hop

Maurice Lynch

2006, 90 min., Color, US

The Hip-Hop Christian movement has been uplifting youth by delivering positive religious messages that are not about drugs, sex, or hate but of hope and peace.

In a society where artists are glorified for being gunned down, women are admired for wearing fewer clothes, and children are quoting lyrics to songs that should be deemed Rated X, how do you spell relief? B- L- A- Z- E!
... More

Blood

Judy Singh

2005, 40 min., Color, Cuba

BLOOD features popular Canadian-Jamaican dub poet d’bi.young, with performances by the Cuban female Hip-Hop Group Las Krudas. The film is part extraordinary music video (shot on locations around Havana, Cuba) and part entertaining after-dinner conversation between d’bi and her friends. Part of the CaribbeanTales Collection.

Calypso @ Dirty Jim's

Pascale Obolo

2005, 85 min., Color, Trinidad & Tobago

Featuring the last of the great calypsonians, bringing them all together to sing such classics as “Rum & Coca Cola,” “Jean and Dinah,” and “Shame and Scandal in the Family,” to name a few, the film provides an opportunity to recapture the sound of classic calypso in all of its splendor. Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Terror, Bomber, Superior and Relator are gathered around Syl Dopson’s orchestra on the sc ... More

Calypso Dreams

Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne

2004, 85 min., Color, Trinidad & Tobago

An intimate portrait of some of the true calypsonians in Trinidad & Tobago, in performance and in conversation. Shot over three years in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the documentary includes such legendary calypsonians as Lord Pretender, Lord Kitchener, the Mighty Bomber, Relator, Lord Superior, Brigo, Mystic Prowler, Calypso Rose, the Mighty Sparrow, Terror, Valentino, Lord Blakie, David Rudder, Rege ... More

El Charango

Jim Virga & Tula Goenka

2006, 22 min., Color, Bolivia

This short documentary is about a little instrument, a large silver mine and the highest city in the world. Cerro Rico in Potosi, Bolivia, was discovered by Spanish conquistadors in 1545, who enslaved the local indigenous people. It is said that 8 million people, including African slaves, died in the mines of this mountain while providing Spain with immense wealth. The Spanish culture spread into ... More

Come With It, Black Man

Tamara Tam-Cruickshank

2012, 103 min., Color, Trinidad & Tobago

This documentary features music and performances of legendary calypsonian Dr. Leroy Calliste, better known as Black Stalin.

Cruisin' J-town

Duane Kubo

Producer: Visual Communications

1974, 24 min., Color, US

This is the story of the formation of the popular jazz fusion band, Hiroshima, in the late 70s. The musicians reflect on their culture, musical influences, and the political movements of the 1960's out of which Asian American music emerged.

Deft Changes: An Improvised Experience

Alonzo Speight

1991, 10 min., Color, US

Through short improvised sketches, this video explores the generational conflicts between a father and son who are each musicians. It features performances by guitarist Mark Whittfield, and the late master drummer, Frederick Waits.

Democracy in Dakar

Ben Herson, Magee McIlvaine & Chris Moore

Producer: Nomadic Wax and Sol Productions

2007, 66 min., Color, US/Senegal

"Democracy in Dakar" explores the transformative role of Hip-Hop in politics in Senegal, West Africa during the 2007 presidential election campaign. This documentary mixes interviews, freestyles, and commentary from journalists, artists and politicians. Senegalese society is seen on the brink of democratic change, where Hip-Hop artists are one of the few groups unafraid of speaking out.

Desi Remix Chicago Style

Balvinder Dhenjan

1996, 46 min., Color, US/UK

Shot in Chicago and London this energetic documentary follows three very different Punjabi bands and their attempts to use their music as a bridge between the competing cultural influences of India and America. They face and deal with racism, discover both Desi sex and Desi sexism, look for role models and confront politics, history, religion, and their own multiple heritages.

Diamonds in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution

Brett Mazurek

2009, 53 min., US/Uganda

From the ashes of four decades of war, AIDS and corruption in Uganda, The Bataka Squad artists, Babaluku and Saba Saba, rise to forge a revolutionary path using music. They are on a mission to empower the forgotten youth of Africa from within, while spreading their message of hope around the globe. Narrated by Spearhead singer Michael Franti, follow the Bataka movement to amplify the spirit of the ... More

Favela Rising

Jeff Zimbalist & Matt Mochary

Color, Brazil

Their music fueled a movement. His message fought a war.

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the stree ... More

Follow Your Heart: China's New Youth Movement

Duncan Jepson

2007, 89 min., Color, China

A revealing documentary on the work and life of successful and independent Chinese Hip-Hop artists and their cultural influence in a society rapidly changing from communism to consumerism. Clashing with both traditional Chinese values and new modern ones, these artists believe that Hip-Hop allows for the expression of freedom and being true to oneself. Furthermore, the film describes the high opti ... More

Frekuensia Kolombiana

Vanessa Gocksch

2006, 58 min., Color, Colombia

FREKUENSIA KOLOMBIANA profiles the grassroots Hip-Hop scene in Colombia, exploring the popularity of all the elements--MCing, breakdancing, graffiti, and DJing--and their relation to the political and class realities of Colombia. Told through interviews of Hip-Hop artists, as well as regular residents of communities in Medellin, Bogota, Cali, and Barranquilla, we see the ways in which Hip-Hop's m ... More

Frontier Life

Hans Fjellestad

Producer: Ryan Page

2003, 92 min., Color, US/Mexico

A feature-length documentary that explores beyond Tijuana s sin-city heritage and searches for the heart and identity of a city that is much more than a cantina-strewn throwback to the Old West. It approaches Tijuana on its own terms, looking at the city not so much in relationship to the U.S., the border, or even other regions of Mexico, but rather from the inside, within its own context. With ... More

Gershwin & Bess: A Dialogue with Anne Brown

Nicole Franklin

Producer: EPIPHANY Inc.

2010, 36 min., Color, US

In 2004 at her home in Oslo, Norway, soprano Anne Wiggins Brown sat down with tenor Dr. William A. Brown (no relation) of the Center Black Music Research for an on-the-record conversation about originating the iconic role of “Bess” in the opera Porgy and Bess with famed composer George Gershwin. Revealed are little known facts about what is arguably the most popular American opera touring to date ... More

Graffiti Verite' 1: Read the Writing on the Wall

Bob Bryan

Producer: Bob Bryan

2005, 45 min., Color, US

An award-winning documentary that explores the eclectic world of Hip-Hop and the urban graffiti artist. GRAFFITI VERITE’ is the first up-close and personal expose’ into the graffiti art world as experienced by 24 artists whose medium is the spray can.

Conversations span the comparison of graffiti’s historical connection to hieroglyphics and cave writings to discussions of graffiti art ... More

Hiphopistan: Representing Locality in a Global City

Çiğdem Akbay

2007, 25 min., Color, Turkey

HIPHOPISTAN is a documentary film that examines the impact of Hip-Hop culture on Istanbul youth and reveals how young Turkish rappers, DJs, break-dancers, and graffiti artists creatively blend popular influences with their local cultural values and traditions. In a world that is becoming increasingly exposed to global media, much has been debated as to whether or not societies and individuals can ... More

I Love Hip Hop in Morocco

Joshua Asen & Jennifer Needleman

Producer: Rizz Productions, Inc.

2007, 80 min., Color, US/Morocco

This feature-length documentary follows the creation of Morocco's first-ever Hip-Hop festival, from inception all the way to the stage. Along the way we meet DJ Key, a self-taught turntable prodigy who is torn between his love for Hip-Hop and his
devotion to Islam; H-Kayne, a pioneer rap group on the verge of stardom; and Fati, a high school girl who's trying to make it as a female rapper in ... More

Inside Out in the Open

Alan Roth

2001, 60 min., Color, US

INSIDE OUT IN THE OPEN focuses on the revolutionary, avant-garde developments in Jazz that evolved in the early 1960's, expanding the boundaries in rhythm, sound, harmonics, and collective improvisation with an expansive openness and deep emotion. It's a tradition that continues to this day, still filled with creative energy and affecting newer and younger listeners. The only voices in this film a ... More

Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano

Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

2005, 50 min., Color, US/Cuba

INVENTOS explores the burgeoning Hip-Hop scene in Cuba. In spite of the US trade embargo against Cuba, the Hip-Hop movement is flourishing with popular innovative groups such as EPG&B, Grandes Ligas, Anonimo Consejo, and Sexto Sentido offering creative energy and powerful social commentary on Cuban social issues and politics. Groups such as Orishas are profiled as one of the few Cuban Hip-Hop grou ... More

La Bruja: A Witch from the Bronx

Felix Rodriguez

2005, 50 min., Color, US

Art, labor and family blend in this intimate documentary about performance artist Caridad De La Luz, better known as 'La Bruja'. Born and raised in the Bronx, this daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants takes the number 6 train to downtown Manhattan where she performs at popular New York City venues. She reads her poetry in Joe's Pub, stages her one-woman show in the Nuyorican Poets Café, and perform ... More

Living the Hiplife

Jesse W Shipley

2007, 61 min., Color, US/Ghana

This film is a musical portrait of street life in urban West Africa. It follows the birth of Hiplife music in Accra, Ghana, a mix of various African musical forms and American hip hop. Archival footage and hip hop music videos are remixed with interviews and the daily lives of rap artists. We follow Reggie Rockstone, the Godfather of Hiplife in the founding of the musical movement, as well as the ... More

Masizakhe: Building Each Other

Angelica Macklin and Scott Macklin

Producer: Open Hand Reel

2008, 80 min., Color, South Africa/US

"Masizakhe, Building Each Other" explores the role of art, social activism and Hip-Hop in education and presents students, teachers, artists and principals working to support each other while re-establishing individual and cultural identities.This is an important and inspiring film that demonstrates that Hip-Hop is a global culture committed to peace and youth liberation. It has been a powerful me ... More

Mr. Devious

John Fredericks

2006, 73 min., South Africa

MR. DEVIOUS is an exploration of the life and impact of South African Hip-Hop artist Mr. Devious on the youth and community of Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. The film traces Mr. Devious' introduction to Hip-Hop, his hardcore style of rapping about ghetto life in Cape Flats, his experiences being signed to a major record label and then returning to life as an independent artist, his interna ... More

Musica

Gustavo Paredes

1985, 59 min., Color, US

This film is an odyssey through the eyes, words and music of individuals who pioneered Afro-Cuban music in the United States. The video offers a rich overview of a wide number of musical styles from "Cubop" to Salsa, Big Band to jazz, and of musicians from Chano Ponzo to Tito Puente and Desi Arnaz to Johnny Colon. It examines the significant role of women performers and contains interviews with ... More

The Other Side of the Water: The Journey of a Haitian Rara Band in Brooklyn

Jeremy Robins and Magali Damas

2010, 52 min., Color/BW, US/Haiti

Part carnival, part vodou ceremony, and part grassroots protest, Haitian “Rara” is one of the most breathtaking and contested forms of music in the Americas. The Other Side of the Water follows a group of young immigrants who take this ancient music from the hills of Haiti and reinvent it on the streets of Brooklyn. The documentary tells the story of an unlikely band that comes to speak for a la ... More

Percussion, Impressions and Reality

Allan Siegel

Producer: Third World Newsreel

1978, 30 min., Color, US

This is the first comprehensive U.S. film to explore the origins and growth of traditional Puerto Rican music. Interviews with musicians living in New York reveal how traditional music is used as a source of resistance against cultural domination. Their music is also a means by which Puerto Rican culture is maintained and transformed. The film focuses on the music of "Lexington Avenue Express", a ... More

Ritual Rhythms: Candombe

Mabel Maio

1999, 48 min., Color, Uruguay

This documentary explores the history and modern reality of candombe, the drum music of Uruguay's black parade bands. It is a way of life that was born in the musical gatherings of slaves in urban marketplaces and plazas. Despite persistent racism, past and present, the 200,000 Uruguayans of African descent experience candombe as a way of life, as part of the cast of characters that inhabit the te ... More

Rock Me, Goong Hay

Shelton Ito

Producer: Third World Newsreel Workshop

1992, 5 min., Color, US

The Goong Hay Kid is the fictional Chinese rapper created and played by Alvin Eng. ROCK ME, GOONG HAY combines hip-hop styling with a forceful protest against stereotypes.

Scene Not Heard

Maori Karmael Holmes

2005, 45 min., Color, US

Right from the beginning of the hip hop movement, Philadelphia's artists have made major contributions as emcees, grafitti artists, dancers, and especially as deejays. Native talents such as Will Smith, The Roots and Eve have made great strides domestically and internationally. But somehow Philly still doesn't get the kind of props that L.A. or even Atlanta does, despite its unique proliferation o ... More

She Rhymes Like a Girl

J.T. Takagi

Producer: Third World Newsreel

2005, 7 min., Color, US

Toni Blackman and the FreeStyle Union are challenging the male dominated world of hip hop and empowering women to speak their minds in freestyle workshops. This music video/documentary hopes to promote a movement of female MCs. Part of the Call for Change Series.

A Song for Ourselves

Tadashi Nakamura

2009, 35 min., Color, US

A SONG FOR OURSELVES is an intimate journey into the life and music of Asian American Movement troubadour Chris Iijima. Struggling to make sense of their father’s early death, Iijima's teenage sons learn that during the 1970s when Asians in America were still considered “Orientals,” Chris’ music and passion for social justice helped provide the voice and identity an entire generation had been in ... More

The World Saxophone Quartet

Barbara McCullough

1980, 5 min., Color, US

A glance at an innovative quartet of jazz saxophonists, Hamiet Bluiet, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, and David Murray, both in concert and conversation.