International DocFilmMusic Competition

7 films
Eight titles from this year’s international DocFilmMusic competition promise both musical and technological discoveries. Here is an extraordinary music festival in Sardinia, a composed conductor, a queer vocalist, a mysterious musician, the synthesizer pioneer, two unconventional duos, and a band that shouldn’t exist. A jazz event and musicians of various genres, recorded on vinyl, tapes, film reels, and digitally on phones.

  • Abebe-Butterfly Song

    dir. Rosie Jones
    dok2023

    The music scene of Papua – New Guinea needed a long time to step out of the shade. It was possible thanks to George Telek, an artist singing in native languages and combining Papuan and Western sounds. The film is also a story of his friendship with Australian musician David Bridie, which defies the colonial past.

    Read more
    film still Abebe-Butterfly Song

  • Blues Run the Game: The Strange Tale of Jackson C. Frank

    dir. Damien Aimé Dupont
    dok2023

    In 1965, Jackson C. Frank, a bluesman, assisted by Paul Simon, had already recorded his only album, which influenced many American and British folk musicians. Nevertheless, he was unable to defeat his demons. The film shows the artist’s emotional landscape.

    Read more
    film still Blues Run the Game: The Strange Tale of Jackson C. Frank

  • Don Lewis and the Live Electronic Orchestra

    dir. Ned Augustenborg
    dok2023

    In the 1970s, Don Lewis, who was an electronic engineer and musician, constructed a synthesizer that could generate and mix sounds on an unprecedented scale. However, the story of success turned into a drama of a man striving for recognition and struggling with racial prejudice.

    Read more
    film still Don Lewis and the Live Electronic Orchestra

  • Joana Mallwitz - Momentum

    dir. Günter Atteln
    dok2024

    The eponymous character, who conducts the best European orchestras, says that the most important thing is to have a good team – both in the family and at work. Joana Mallwitz is filmed over the breakthrough period of two years when her son is born and her career considerably speeds up.

    Read more
    film still Joana Mallwitz - Momentum

  • Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird

    dir. Nicolas Jack Davies
    dok2023

    This film has the dynamics of progressive rock, the preferred genre of the cult American band Mars Volta for over twenty years. The film edited out of hundreds of hours of archival footage is a painfully honest portrayal of friendship, successes, transformations and failures.

    Read more
    film still Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird

  • Stay Homas. The Band That Shouldn't Exist (Stay Homas. La banda que no hauria d’existir)

    dir. Oriol Gispert, Nick Bolger, Ramon Balagué
    dok2024

    The trio from Barcelona helped many to survive the lockdown. The songs referring to the pandemic situation, which were recorded by Stay Homas at their balcony, went viral and brought them popularity all over the world. Eventually, they had to cease to be an online phenomenon only.

    Read more
    film still Stay Homas. The Band That Shouldn

  • Teaches of Peaches

    dir. Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer
    dok2024

    Peaches, who is a performer, provoker and a sassy lady, does not slow down in the sixth decade of her life. To the contrary, her tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of her album ‘Teaches of Peaches’ was an explosion of creativity. For the filmmakers, it was an opportunity to find out more about this rebellious artist, an icon of feminism and queer culture.

    Read more
    film still Teaches of Peaches