It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll
June 13–August 31, 2019
Rock ’n’ roll is the soundtrack to summer at BAMPFA as we celebrate the roots and resonance of rock in cinema. Three free events on our outdoor screen take the music to the streets.
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Wattstax
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Stop Making Sense
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Gimme Shelter
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Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
- Upcoming
Films - Past
Films - Past
Events
Past Films
Stop Making Sense: Free Outdoor Screening!
Jonathan Demme
United States, 1984BAMPFA Student Committee Pick
Also screens in the Barbro Osher Theater on Sunday, June 16Thursday, June 13 7 PMView DetailsOften heralded as the greatest rock concert film ever, Demme’s rendering of a Talking Heads performance moves from David Byrne’s solo “Psycho Killer” to the joyously collective “Take Me to the River.” The cumulative effect is of “life being lived at a joyous high” (Roger Ebert).
King Creole
Michael Curtiz
United States, 1958Saturday, June 15 8:15 PMView DetailsElvis Presley is at his big-screen best in this classic set in New Orleans, the only Elvis movie that “attempted to articulate his complex relation to African American culture” (David E. James).
Stop Making Sense
Jonathan Demme
United States, 1984BAMPFA Student Committee Pick
Also presented in a free outdoor screening on Thursday, June 13Sunday, June 16 7 PMView DetailsOften heralded as the greatest rock concert film ever, Demme’s rendering of a Talking Heads performance moves from David Byrne’s solo “Psycho Killer” to the joyously collective “Take Me to the River.” The cumulative effect is of “life being lived at a joyous high” (Roger Ebert).
Rock ’n’ Film: Cinema’s Dance with Popular Music
Saturday, June 22 5:30 PMIllustrated Lecture by David E. JamesView DetailsUSC professor and writer David E. James presents a lecture exploring the rich legacy of cinema’s dance with popular music and what these films share with classic film musicals.
Three by Kenneth Anger
Friday, June 28 6:30 PMView DetailsThe great experimental filmmaker weds avant-garde cinema with rock, doo-wop, and leather-clad motorcycle hunks in his underground classics Scorpio Rising, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, and Rabbit’s Moon.
Dont Look Back
Richard Leacock, D. A. Pennebaker
United States, 1967Saturday, June 29 6 PMView DetailsPennebaker and Leacock’s influential look at Bob Dylan’s 1965 British tour is “the young Mr. D’s definitive portrait” (J. Hoberman). It also “established documentary as the primary form of the countercultural US musical film” (David E. James).
A Hard Day's Night: Free Outdoor Screening!
Richard Lester
United Kingdom, 1964Thursday, July 11 7 PMView DetailsRichard Lester captures the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania, spiritedly weaving together documentary and fiction. With Mick Gochanour’s expanded edit of Peter Whitehead’s look at the Rolling Stones on tour, Charlie Is My Darling: Ireland 1965.
Privilege
Peter Watkins
United Kingdom, 1965Saturday, July 13 6 PMView DetailsReleased during the Summer of Love and set in “Britain in the near future,” this radically dystopian tale from the director of Punishment Park follows a pop star (former Manfred Mann vocalist Paul Jones) whose music becomes a tool for tyranny.
Gimme Shelter
Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
United States, 1970Friday, July 19 8:45 PMView DetailsScrutinizing the 1969 Altamont Festival organized by the Rolling Stones, an ill-fated “anti-Woodstock” that devolved into violence and chaos, this documentary skillfully interweaves performance footage with behind-the-scenes glimpses of the preparations for the show and its aftermath.
The Harder They Come
Perry Henzell
Jamaica, 1973Saturday, July 27 8 PMView DetailsStarring Jimmy Cliff and buoyed by an infectious soundtrack featuring the music of Cliff, the Maytals, the Slickers, and Desmond Dekker, this Caribbean noir shot on location in Kingston, Jamaica, introduced reggae to an international audience.
Wattstax
Mel Stuart
United States, 1973BAMPFA Collection
Saturday, August 3 8:15 PMView DetailsThis vibrant, essential document of the Stax soul scene (and the Black Power era) captures a seven-hour concert held in commemoration of the Watts uprising. Featuring Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Richard Pryor, and more.
Monterey Pop: Free Outdoor Screening!
D. A. Pennebaker
United States, 1968Thursday, August 8 7 PMView DetailsLegendary performances by Otis Redding, the Mamas and the Papas, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, and more jump off the screen in Pennebaker’s document of the legendary music festival. “The first great pop festival, the first great festival film” (Greil Marcus). With Jimi Plays Berkeley, filmed at Hendrix’s 1970 Berkeley shows.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
D. A. Pennebaker
United Kingdom, 1973Friday, August 16 8:30 PMView DetailsDavid Bowie and his band headline London’s Hammersmith Odeon, and bid farewell to the Ziggy Stardust persona, in this spectacular concert film. The glam rock era at its flamboyant, alienated—and alien-identified—best.
The Last Waltz
Martin Scorsese
United States, 1978Saturday, August 24 8:15 PMView DetailsScorsese’s loving portrait of The Band’s farewell concert in San Francisco is “arguably the most beautiful of rock movies, while the musical highlights . . . still astound” (Time Out). With guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and more.
The Decline of Western Civilization
Penelope Spheeris
United States, 1981BAMPFA Student Committee Pick
Thursday, August 29 7 PMView DetailsSpheeris’s writhing and raucous portrait of the L.A. punk scene circa 1979/80 showcases the energy and anger of youth shut out of the American dream. Featuring X, Black Flag, Fear, The Germs, and others.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Michel Gondry
United States, 2005Saturday, August 31 8 PMView DetailsFeaturing a stellar lineup of R&B and hip-hop artists including Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, the Fugees, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott, this concert movie hosted by Dave Chappelle is an exuberant ode to the legendary Wattstax.
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