Rockumentary
see all genres ›The "devil's music" arrived as a musical form in the 1950s and cinema almost immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Rockumentaries have provided invaluable annotation to its history from the very beginning. In the years since, the neologism has expanded beyond the confines of its titular rock and roll origins and the conventions of those early efforts have stretched from "pop" artists to include classical and world music as well.
Watch Rockumentary Films
Genres / Music / Rockumentary
SUB-GENRES · Classical Music · Folk Music · Popular Music · World Music
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Kurt and Courtney
This controversial documentary, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Nick Broomfield, begins as an observation of the music of Kurt Cobain and his Seattle/Portland contemporaries. KURT AND COURTNEY takes a different turn when Courtney Love intervenes. What emerges is a powerful...Watch Movie
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Be Here to Love Me
As a musician, Townes Van Zandt was legendary, perhaps one of the greatest who ever lived, inspiring a range of artists from Bob Dylan to Norah Jones to Steve Earle. As a man, a husband and a father his life was as tragic as the songs he wrote. Van Zandt was an enigma to his...Watch Movie
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American Artifact
AMERICAN ARTIFACT chronicles the rise of American rock poster art since its birth in the '60s. The film explores the history and rise of the current rock poster movement in America, featuring a cast of quirky, interesting and extremely talented rock poster artists talking...Watch Movie
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Every Everything
In marked contrast to COLOR ME OBSESSED, director Gorman Bechard's risky yet rewarding 2011 Replacements documentary that featured no songs or appearances by its subject matter, his upcoming EVERY EVERYTHING: THE MUSIC, LIFE, AND TIMES OF GRANT HEART doc completely flips the...Watch Movie
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This is Gary McFarland
The story of legendary 1960s jazz arranger and composer Gary McFarland (who died much too young at the age of thirty-eight under mysterious circumstances). Features interviews with Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Steve Kuhn, Airto Moreira and many more, as well as rare music...Watch Movie
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Strange Powers
Stephin Merritt is known as "the Cole Porter of his generation" for his memorable melodies, lovelorn lyrics and wry musical stylings. Shot over 10 years, STRANGE POWERS explores his friendship with longtime bandmate/manager, Claudia Gonson. Through his recording/songwriting process, the film...Watch Movie
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Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio with the Red Shoes
A rare, intimate look at the American legend behind Lake Wobegon. America's foremost humorist and commentator, Garrison Keillor takes his skits and jokes, music and monologues across the country in his traveling radio show, spinning his stories into American gold. This...Watch Movie
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A Band Called Death
Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death's...Watch Movie
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Patti Smith: Dream of Life
Eleven years in the making, PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE is a unique and intimate portrait of the renowned singer, songwriter, poet, and activist. Patti Smith's music, poetry, and politics are fearless, funny, raw and original. Photographer-director Steven Sebring creates a...Watch Movie
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Brian Eno: The Man Who Fell to Earth
Brian Eno: musician, composer, producer, music theorist, singer and visual artist. Probably best known for his early work with Roxy Music, his production duties for U2 and Coldplay and as one of the principal innovators of ambient music. This first-ever documentary film about...Watch Movie
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AKA Doc Pomus
Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself first as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as a one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing "Save the Last Dance for Me," "This Magic Moment," "A Teenager in...Watch Movie
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Beautiful People
In the documentary BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, ten members of the longest running traditional Irish music group in New York City talk about not only their interest in this type of music but offer a peek inside their lives to try and find what draws them towards this activity. An Asian...Watch Movie
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Apocalypse
This strikingly shot concert documentary follows enigmatic Drag City singer/songwriter Bill Callahan on a two-week tour from California to New York. For the past twenty-five years, under both the Smog moniker and under his own name, Callahan has cultivated a legacy as both a pioneer in the lo-fi...Watch Movie
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Elvis: Return to Tupelo
Presley may have been born with the Rock ‘n Roll in his blood but without poverty, southern culture and a mother whom he adored, Elvis Aaron Presley might have been just another poor white guy rather than the King. Narrated by prolific country musician and actor Kris...Watch Movie
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Bob and the Monster
This award winning documentary follows outspoken indie-rock hero Bob Forrest, through his life-threatening struggle with addiction, to his transformation into one of the most influential and controversial drug counselors in the US today, appearing alongside Dr. Drew Pinsky on...Watch Movie
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Wavemakers
Maurice Martenot dreamed of sound springing from silence. Amid the chaos of the Great War, the young French wireless telegraph operator became enthralled by the unusual interference produced by his radio’s vacuum tubes. He envisioned of an instrument that would turn the raw material of...Watch Movie
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Screaming Men
The Finnish Screaming Male Choir, Mieskuoro Huutajat, dressed in black suits, white shirts and rubber ties is a unique choir which performs its repertoire by shouting and screaming. Led by the conductor Petri Sirviö, the choir has travelled during fifteen years of existence from an idea in a bar...Watch Movie
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From Straight to Bizarre
In 1968 Frank Zappa set up the Bizarre and Straight record labels. FROM STRAIGHT TO BIZARRE reviews the astonishing music that came out on Bizarre and Straight and reveals the background, operations and the lives of the musicians, performers and management who made these...Watch Movie
