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World Music
see all genres ›Some have called music the universal language but it is precisely the vast to subtle differences between idioms, styles, instrumentation, melody and meaning that make musical globe-trotting an endless source of discovery. From fado to Fela, these documentaries explore the sounds that move people (and make them move) around the world.
Discover World Music Films
Genres / Music / Rockumentary / World Music
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Accordion Tribe
Five highly original musicians from different countries form the Accordion Tribe. Together they aim to reinforce the original power of the long disdained instrument. Stefan Schwietert‘s film follows the energetic soundscapes and their performers on a journey through Europe. An extraordinarily intensive documentary on the...Start your free trial to watch
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Emmanuel Jal: War Child
“Left home at the age of seven, one year later I’m carryin’ an AK-47.” His electrifying music crackles with both pain and hope. For hip hop artist Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier in Sudan’s brutal civil war, these lyrics are hardly empty posturing. They are the bitter reality of a young man who was...Start your free trial to watch
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Fados
FADOS completes the musical trilogy of award-winning Carlos Saura. Using Lisbon as a backdrop, he explores Portugal’s most emblematic musical genre (fado) and its haunting spirit of saudade (melancholy). Tracing its African and Brazilian origins up to the new wave of modern faudistas, he ingeniously deploys mirrors, back...Start your free trial to watch
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Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon
Fela Kuti is to African music what Bob Marley is to reggae: its prophet. All contemporary forms of black music, from funk to electronic, owe something to the irresistible groove of the Afrobeat sound that he created. He recorded more than 60 albums and spent a lifetime fighting against political corruption...Start your free trial to watch
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Intangible Asset no.82
After hearing a rare recording of Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul’s music, Australian drummer Simon Barker knew right away that he was listening to one of the world’s greatest improvisers. So unique, in fact, is the artistry of the Shaman that the Korean Government bestowed upon him the honorary title...Start your free trial to watch
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Ouled Bambara
Gnawa music is that of the ritual tradition known in Morocco as Tagnawit, "the craft of the Gnawi." The Gnawa are the practitioners of this tradition, be they the musicians or the initiates and clairvoyants who sponsor ceremonies and trance to the music. Their healing rituals are intercessions with the powerful Mluk, the...Start your free trial to watch
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The Pied Piper of Hützovina
In the summer of 2004, on a car journey in Eastern Europe, Pavla Fleischer met and fell in love with "the Godfather of Gypsy Punk" Eugene Hütz, lead singer of Gogol Bordello. Captivated by his energy and his musical verve and desperate to get to know him better, she decided to make a film about him. THE...Start your free trial to watch
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Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
TEACHER DON'T TEACH ME NONSENSE is a rarely-seen documentary, mixing candid interviews of Fela Kuti with selected live segments from his stirring performances. Examining his life, music, and political views, this feature serves as an important guide for anyone yearning to learn more about a transformative...Start your free trial to watch
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El tigre saltó y mató, pero morirá... morirá...
Cuban filmmaker Santiago Alvarez’s hurried response to the 1973 Chilean coup d’état rests upon the music of Victor Jara, the folk singer who was brutally murdered within days after Augusto Pinochet assumed power. Connecting events in Chile to other repressive police crackdowns throughout the world (and...Start your free trial to watch
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Umm Kulthum
She had the musicality of Ella Fitzgerald, the public presence of Eleanor Roosevelt and the audience of Elvis Presley. Born a peasant at the turn of the last century, legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum earned a position of great wealth and influence. She was a powerful symbol, first of the aspirations of her country, and...Start your free trial to watch