Ian MacKaye

The ongoing relationship between the worlds of punk rock and animal rights and how the music became a breeding ground for vegan activism.

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The stories of some of the biggest artists in music, recalling the romance and adventure, as well as the idiocy and chaos, of their time on the road. While the world has changed, the custom has not changed. There is no other way to know whether you can make it in this business. You have to get in the van.

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"Dope, Hookers and Pavement" is a lively and unfiltered account of the early days of the Detroit hardcore punk scene, circa 1981-82, in the notorious Cass Corridor, arguably one of the worst neighbourhoods in the city at the time. Featuring over 70 in-depth interviews — including John Brannon (Negative Approach), Tesco Vee (Meatmen, Touch and Go), Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Dischord Records), pro skater Bill Danforth, scene kids, and members of the Necros, The Fix, Violent Apathy and Bored Youth — and never-before-seen Super8 footage of the Freezer, "Dope, Hookers and Pavement" is both hilarious and reflective, and an overdue record of a nearly invisible but magic little moment in the long history of Detroit rock'n'roll.

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Largely ignored and left to their own devices, a group of unassuming teenagers in late 80s and early 90s Sioux Falls, South Dakota created their own culture, community, and economy. And when they moved out into the world at large, they brought what they learned along with them. I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk is a story about the tenacity and ingenuity of youth, finding and following your convictions, and how the kids you least expect often make the most noise. Shot on location in eight cities and assembled from dozens of hours of archival video and hundreds of photos, the documentary features interviews with Larry Livermore (Lookout. Records), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Mike Park (Skankin' Pickle), Rebecca Hanten (Cadillac Blindside), Terry Taylor (Hammerlord), and dozens of current and former members of the Sioux Falls all ages music scene.

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An in-depth exploration of a seminal moment in DC music history (circa 1976 to 1984) and the rise of harDCore. The film is made up of a mix of rare archive material, conversational interviews, and a collage editing style. Features early DC punk and hardcore bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Slickee Boys, The Faith and more.

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62-years-old Alva, the oldest professional, skateboarder in the world, is considered by many to be the godfather of modern day skateboarding. Alva’s brand of aggression and bravado in the 70’s set the stage for the way skateboarding would be forever defined. Vans’ The Tony Alva Story chronicles T.A.’s humble beginnings on the streets of Santa Monica to his rise to superstardom as part of the legendary Z-Boys, his inevitable drug-induced implosion and his ultimate rise from the ashes to accept his rightful place as a beacon of hope and inspiration for generations of skateboarders the world over.

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Featuring original interviews with America’s punk pioneers and the U.K.’s most notorious bands, alongside a seamless blend of rare and unseen photos, gritty archival film and video, a crackling soundtrack of punk hits and misses, this documentary series explores the music, the fashion, the art and the DIY attitude of a subculture of self-described misfits and outcasts.

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Hardcore punk legend Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat) discusses memorable experiences from the many live shows he’s played.

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The life and career of rock n' roll icon Joan Jett from her early years ripping it up onstage as the founder and backbone of hard-rock legends The Runaways, to her long time collaboration with Kenny Laguna as Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and her enduring presence in pop culture as a rock pioneer and mentor. With her inimitable singles "I Love Rock n Roll," and "Bad Reputation" Joan Jett inspired a generation of young women to rock.

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Records Collecting Dust II focuses on the East Coast cities of Boston, New York and Washington DC, and includes in depth interviews with twenty eight highly influential people from the 1980’s hardcore punk rock music scene. Talking about the music, the bands and the records that forever changed their lives. Including Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi, John Joseph of Cro-Mags, Dave Smalley of DYS/Dag Nasty, Bob Cenci of Jerry's Kids, Amy Pickering of Dischord Records, Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits/Quicksand, Roger Miret of Agnostic Front and Clif Croce of The Freeze.

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The true story of punks, queers, & criminals on a ride with two men who accidentally changed music along the way.

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YOU CAN COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, THE BIG BOYS tells the true story of the beloved funk/punk band from Austin, Texas. Go beyond Austin's city limits and hear from some of music & skateboarding's greats about how the original "skate punk" band's message of DIY positivity still resonates today. Hear from such legends as Tim Kerr (Big Boys), Fred Armisen (SNL), Tony Alva (Dogtown & Z-Boys), Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam), Exene Cervenka (X) & many more as this VHS-inspired trip takes you back to those hot summers of Texas in the 80s. And then go make your own art!

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'Parallel Planes' is a documentary film portraying 12 American avant-garde & punk-rock musicians. It is a journey between genres, an essay on free thinking and an intimate look at how 12 critical players relate to the potential of music.

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In the mid-1980s outside this college town, home of the Kansas Jayhawks, punk rock history was being made in the middle of a cornfield. Where the pavement turned to gravel, in a small, primitive cinder block building, bands like Fugazi, the Melvins, Rollins Band, Gwar, the Circle Jerks, Body Count, Social Distortion, Bad Brains, White Zombie, Descendents, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Fishbone, the Meat Puppets, Helmet, and Nirvana played to all-ages crowds, a raucous scene of misfits and anarchists on the margins of youth culture. This was The Outhouse. Small, dark and sometimes dangerous, it quickly gained a reputation as a haven for the bands other venues were afraid of, and the kids who loved them.

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A real time journey witnessing the rise, fall, and ultimate redemption of the fierce feminist pioneers of American grunge punk: L7.

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Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk spans over 30 years of the California Bay Area’s punk music history with a central focus on the emergence of the inspiring 924 Gilman Street collective. This diverse group of artists, writers, organizers and musicians created a do-it-yourself petri dish that changed the punk scene... and the world at large.

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Cassette inventor Lou Ottens digs through his past to figure out why the audiotape won't die. Rock veterans join a legion of young bands releasing music on tape to push Lou along on his journey to remember.

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A documentary about the singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt

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"Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90)" examines the early DIY punk scene in the Nation's Capital. It was a decade when seminal bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Scream, Void, Faith, Rites of Spring, Marginal Man, Fugazi, and others released their own records and booked their own shows-without major record label constraints or mainstream media scrutiny. Contextually, it was a cultural watershed that predated the alternative music explosion of the 1990s (and the industry's subsequent implosion). Thirty years later, DC's original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction.

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A punk band from Texas whose music and persona was extreme and political and the supporters who've followed and loved them for over 35 years.

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Punk activist collective Positive Force emerged in 1985, rising from the ashes of Revolution Summer. This feature-length film by Robin Bell skillfully mixes rare archival footage (including electrifying live performances from Fugazi, Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses, Anti-Flag, and more) with new interviews with key PF activists like co-founder Mark Andersen and supporters such as Ian MacKaye, Ted Leo, and Riot Grrrl co-founder Allison Wolfe. Covering a span of 25 years, More Than A Witness documents PF's Reagan-era origins, the creation of its communal house, FBI harassment, and the rise of a vibrant underground that burst into the mainstream amidst controversy over both the means and the ends of the movement. In the best punk fashion, PF volunteers have applied creative DIY tactics and radical critiques to issues of homelessness, racism, corporate globalization, sexism, and war while struggling to constructively address conflicting dynamics and visions within the group itself.

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Through an oral history format of in-depth interviews and archival footage, RIOT ON THE DANCE FLOOR bring to life the gritty story of City Gardens, one of New Jersey’s most infamous clubs and its larger than life promoter, Randy Now. Featuring the stark and iconic photography of Thrasher Magazine’s Ken Salerno, the film chronicles the rise of several different music scenes in a venue for underground music that traversed the entertainment spectrum; from the comedy of Henny Youngman to Nine Inch Nails, New Order to Nirvana. It is the story of musical champions, underdogs and how hoards of misfit kids found an unlikely home and above all, the freedom and liberation of having complete creative control. - IFF Boston

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Breadcrumb Trail focuses on Slint's seminal album, Spiderland, and the Louisville music scene from which the band originated.

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Dither: The D.I.Y. Sound is not your conventional punk rock documentary. In this documentary we explore the ideologies created by cornerstones of the early punk community such as Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat, Fugazi and Dischord Records. But beyond that, we explore the communities and people that have adopted these ideologies and created their own version of what it means to be D.I.Y. This is not a documentary about just music, it's a documentary about the communities that surround the music and embrace it as a way of identification and brotherhood. But this documentary doesn't just ask questions about the culture, it asks questions about how it's possible to maintain a culture that is, at it's core, so opposite of the modern economic and social system.

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Bad Brains are one of the most important and influential American bands still working today. They melded punk and reggae into an innovative style that has yet to be copied. Their impact and influence can be heard in groups like Beastie Boys, No Doubt, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction and countless more. Despite the troubles of an eccentric front man they have stayed together for 30 years without ever reaching the level of success so many think they deserve. Using rare archival footage and original comic illustrations the film re-constructs Bad Brains' rich and complicated history.

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A documentary about the life and career of UK singer-songwriter and Adverts frontman, TV Smith.

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When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.

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Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind visually documents the explosion of Grunge, the Seattle Sound, within the context of the underground punk subculture that was developing throughout the U.S. in the late 1970s and 1980s. This decade-and-a-half musical journey will be represented entirely through the lens of EMP’s oral history and permanent object collection, an invaluable and rich cultural archive of over 800 interviews and 140,000 objects - instruments, costumes, posters, records and other ephemera dedicated to the pursuit of rock n roll.

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"The DVD is a live performance of me at the National Geographic Theater in Washington DC on February 13th, 2011, when I turned fifty. Ian MacKaye introduces me and I take it from there. It was a good night in a good theater with a fantastic audience. One of the parts I like about it is that we did some non performance footage of me going back to some of my old haunts in DC like the classic venue Madams Organ as well as a tour through my old job that I left in 1981. We are very happy to be able to bring this to all of you who were not able to go to the tour and pick it up there." -- Henry

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A kinetic glimpse of the rock band Fugazi tearing it up in Wisconsin during the 
Summer of 2001. The original 16mm footage had gone missing for several years,
 but was eventually found, scanned, and edited together in 2010.

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The most widely associated perception of Straight Edge involves abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and promiscuous sex. Since it's origin in the early 1980's these beliefs have spread all over the world, connected through the Punk and Hardcore music scenes. Through interviews with musicians that directly shaped the idea of Straight Edge from its inception until today, EDGE reveals that the abstinence from drugs was established as a youth counter culture rejecting a society dominated by substance abuse and hegemony. Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), Ray Cappo (Youth of Today, Shelter) and Karl Buechner (Earth Crisis, Freya) give witness to their perception of the history of Straight Edge, why it was so important to them and what it changed in their personal and professional careers. But they also address problems like violence, sexism and intolerance that emerged within Straight Edge, and how it changed the 'scene' as well as its public image.

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