Adelaide Film Festival Presents Music On Film

Music-lovers and film-lovers both, prepare to rejoice as the Adelaide Film Festival gears up for a star-studded return this year, from October 23rd to November 3rd.

Taking place across multiple select venues, South Australia’s premiere screen event - and one of the nation’s leading film festivals - boasts a vast, genre-diverse array of screenings and special events which will allow audiences and industry professionals alike to celebrate and be irrevocably moved by courageous cinema and all those who help to created it.

The Adelaide Film Festival’s Music on Film strand in particular presents an electrifying selection of features that music-aficionados should be watching out for. Read on for details of every music film that deserves to be experienced on the big screen.

Pavements

Alex Ross Perry’s genre-defying profile on Pavement, the iconic indie-rock band who defined the 90s, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was celebrated as an ode to the band and an ode to the celebration of music on screen. Described as a “semiotic experiment,” the musical biopic concert film toes the line between fiction and reality, and stars Stranger Things break-out Joe Keery and Wes Anderson favourite Jason Schwartzman.

A particularly exciting announcement reveals that special guest Scott ‘Spiral Stairs’ Kannberg from the band itself will be joining the Adelaide Film Festival for the premiere on Thursday, October 31st, and for a Q&A afterwards.

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Maria

In this historical biopic from acclaimed Chilean director Pablo Larraín, Angelina Jolie delivers a stunning performance as the legendary American-born, Greek opera singer Maria Callas. Having directed such hits as Spencer and Jackie, Larraín continues his habit of exploring the tumult experienced by glamorous yet tragic female icons throughout history. The film follows the final week of Maria Callas’s life after she retreats to Paris in the 1970s.

Devo

This documentary, with director Chris Smith at the helm, offers audiences new insight into Devo, the band that challenged norms and revolutionised the concept of the music video. Famous for their controversial break-out hit Whip It, which many say served as a cornerstone of the development of new wave music in the early 1980s, the band are finally receiving their dues with this documentary, which patches together rare archival footage, new interviews from the band members themselves, and explorations of their collaborations with icons such as Neil Young, Brian Eno, and David Bowie.

Dig! XX

Referred to by Dave Grohl as “the greatest rock-n-roll documentary of all time,” this cult classic film is back in a big way for its twentieth anniversary. After winning the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary in 2004, filmmaker Ondi Timoner returns to her exploration of the fraught relationship between rock bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, this time with forty minutes of never-before-seen footage and new narration from The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s very own Joel Gion. 

Decades on, Dig! still serves as the definitive 90s indie rock documentary, and is more than deserving of being revisited on the big screen.

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

The Adelaide Film Festival is excited to be screening what has been touted as one of the most original documentaries of the year. Belgian multi-media artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez delves into the events leading to the tragic 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is a visceral exploration of the political intrigue and vibrant culture of the time, featuring the music of such legends as Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and John Coltrane. The film is a poignant and masterful study of the malevolence of colonial forces in the aftermath of Congo’s independence, and underscores the importance of music and the arts to times of monumental change.

Piece by Piece

This joyous biopic charts the life of groundbreaking musician and producer Pharrell Williams through LEGO® animation. Oscar-winning documentary follows Pharrell’s spangled life, from his musical childhood to his first job at a record label. The film showcases how Pharrell forged his own path to stratospheric stardom by producing hits for Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and more —who all feature in LEGO® form, of course.

Teaches of Peaches

An ode to cult feminist electroclash musician and producer Peaches, this award-winning documentary follows the twentieth anniversary tour of her album Teaches of Peaches. The film traces the artist’s beginnings and impacts, showcasing incredible live performances, archival footage, and interviews from musicians such as Feist, Shirley Manson, and Chilly Gonazales. Directors Philipp Fussengger and Judy Landkammer have succeeded in crafting an ecstatic tribute to a revolutionary musical personality.

Tickets to all of the aforementioned films are now available on the Adelaide Film Festival’s official website.