Philip Glass

Resurrected through UK-led archival restoration NOVA 78' shows never-before-seen footage of the legendary Nova Convention where William Burroughs, Patti Smith, Zappa, Ginsberg and more collided in an explosion of ideas, art and rebellion.

Open details →

Untold stories behind the culture-defining and newsmaking musical performances, sketches and cameos of the past 50 years.

Open details →

The musical journey between Mexican Wixárika musician Daniel Medina and American composer Philip Glass.

Open details →

We look back at more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation while trying to crack a unique artistic code. Why are people moved to tears when Robert “Bob” Wilson puts minimalistic petrol pumps into a production of Shakespeare’s sonnets? Why does merciless repetition change our understanding of something? Together with Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe or Marina Abramović we trace back our own experience of Bob’s art. Is it true what Philipp Glass the collaborator of the milestone piece “Einstein on the Beach” laughingly and with apparent pleasure exclaims “what does it mean? It doesn’t mean anything!”?

Open details →

Artist Enid Baxter Ryce created an experimental documentary with a musical score by Philip Glass to portray, in moving images, the history of "atmospheric rivers," or streams of water vapor in the sky. Just like rivers that move water around on the land, atmospheric rivers—never visible to the naked eye—were a vital force in shaping the colonization of the American West. Today, the evolving scientific and cultural understandings of atmospheric rivers exemplify the complexity and importance of the stories we tell ourselves about science, climate, and the natural world. This film was created at the Days and Nights Festival held at the Philip Glass Center for the Arts, Science, and the Environment.

Open details →

In his 1992 documentary "Compassion in Exile", filmmaker Mickey Lemle created a groundbreaking portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama. His new film takes a fresh look at what is important for His Holiness, who is now in his 80s: the historic confrontation between Tibet and China; his influence in political, spiritual and educational spheres; his work with neuroscientists; and his personal feelings on aging, dying and whether he will be the last Dalai Lama. His impact on the West has grown over the 25 years since the earlier film, and we see some of his influence at work in classes and scientific studies. Artfully weaving interviews and accounts from family, friends and people he inspired, this film vibrantly conveys the Dalai Lama’s humor, wisdom and compassion

Open details →

This in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities.

Open details →

A documentary about the colorful life, times and music of a true original, Louis “Moondog” Hardin, an eccentric blind musician and composer who had far-reaching artistic influence in spite of a deliberate decision to live on the streets of New York City. With a wealth of never before seen archival film, home movies and rare audio recordings, the film is told largely from Moondog’s perspective and features interviews with Moondog’s friends, family, collaborators and musicians who cite him as an influence, including Jarvis Cocker, John Zorn, Chris Stein and Debbie Harry, Damon Albarn, Philip Glass, and many more.

Open details →

A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.

Open details →

Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he received for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime. On the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's GRACELAND, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger offers a glimpse at the controversy surrounding the decision to record the album in South Africa despite a UN boycott of the nation, which was aimed at ending apartheid. In the run-up to an eagerly anticipated reunion concert, Simon, Quincy Jones, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney and others reflect on the decision to record with local artists in South Africa, and the cultural impact of the album that delivered such hits as "I Know What I Know" and "You Can Call Me Al."

Open details →

A documentary about the American postmodern dancer and choreographer Lucinda Childs. For Dance, a choreography from '79 set to the music of Philip Glass in film/decor of Sol Lewitt, Lucinda received a Guggenheim Fellowship. This masterpiece is the leitmotiv in this documentary. We see Lucinda in NY where she re-stages Dance during the Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2010. We also follow her in Arnhem during the preparations of the piece at Introdans, where it will premiere as a part of ”Sterren en Strepen” (Stars and Stripes). For this show Introdans united the king and queen of modern dance, Hans van Manen and Lucinda Childs, in order to show their pieces together. We will also be speaking to prominent figures from the dance scene about her influence on Dutch modern dance.

Open details →

The story of music and the music industry told through interviews with musicians, composers and producers across genres.

Open details →

Sculptor and giant of modern art Richard Serra discusses his extraordinary life and work. A creator of enormous, immediately identifiable steel sculptures that both terrify and mesmerise, Serra believes that each viewer creates the sculpture for themselves by being within it. To this end, a Japanese family are reminded of the Temples of Kyoto, a Londoner finds sanctuary in the Serra near Liverpool Street station, and most movingly, a Holocaust survivor sees one piece as a wall separating the living from the dead. Contributors include Chuck Close, Philip Glass and Glenn D Lowry, Director of MoMA.

Open details →

Wild Combination is a visually absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his death in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators to tell this poignant and important story.

Open details →

In this archival documentary, cinematographer John Bailey, production designer Eiko Ishioka, and composer Philip Glass discuss the conception of Paul Schrader's film, the image of Mishima that they had prior to committing to the project, the manner in which some of his ideas resonated with them, the unusual portrait of Mishima that the film offers, its form and visual style, etc.

Open details →

An intimate portrait of poet, painter, musician and singer Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself.

Open details →

This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in calendar form. Every day as of January 1st, 2007 and for an entire year, as indicated in the title, a large public (the artist's friends, as well as unknowns) were invited to view a diary of short films of various lengths (from one to twenty minutes) on the Internet. A movie was posted each day, adding to the previously posted pieces, resulting altogether in nearly thirty-eight hours of moving images.

Open details →

Scott Hicks documents an eventful year in the career and personal life of distinguished Western classical composer Philip Glass as he interacts with a number of friends and collaborators, who include Chuck Close, Ravi Shankar, and Martin Scorsese.

Open details →

Hal Willner's Harry Smith Project concerts in London, New York and Los Angeles celebrated the eccentric collector genius and his influential Anthology of American Folk Music. Instrumental in inspiring the urban folk revival of the 1960s, the Anthology's continuing impact on modern music is incalculable. Drawing on this legacy, these landmark shows brought together a remarkable roster of artists performing their own unique interpretations of these classic songs.

Open details →

This was filmed at Anthology Film Archives on May 31, 2000.

Open details →

Open details →

The outrageous drag-cabaret duo Kiki and Herb share their past, present and future as they tour the UK. A mixture of live performance and celebrity interviews (featuring Rufus Wainwright and the Scissor Sisters) that reflect on Kiki and Herb's musical influences, fans, politics and family.

Open details →

Tells the story of David Secter, Canada's first acclaimed indie filmmaker.

Open details →

This documentary captures the overflowing energy and activity of one today's greatest composers, Philip Glass, and allows us to follow him from New York to London and from Paris to Boston. He speaks about his beginnings, his moving to Paris for two years of intensive study with Nadia Boulanger, his meeting with Indian musician Ravi Shankar and director Robert Wilson, who had a deep influence on his career. The film also shows him at work on the last details of his opera The Sound of a Voice, directed by Robert Woodruff and conducted by Alan Johnson. Éric Darmon's camera, with its poetic shots and original framings, takes us for a musical journey into seven months of the life of the composer who, rising from the underground scene of the seventies, brought on a revolution in modern theater.

Open details →

A weekly BBC Two magazine programme focusing on the best of the week's arts and culture news, covering books, art, film, architecture and more.

Open details →

A short about the making of Powaqqatsi

Open details →

Filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass discuss their films "Powaqqatsi" (1988) and "Naqoyqatsi" (2002).

Open details →

Filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass talk about their 1982 film "Koyaanisqatsi."

Open details →

A documentary about avant-garde composer Harry Partch.

Open details →

A brief overview and focus on composers Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe, John Cage, Steve Reich, Elliott Carter and their contemporaries.

Open details →

This film tells the fascinating story of one of the most critically acclaimed careers in independent documentary film making in recent cinema history. This comprehensive overview of Morris' career includes clips of all his important films as well as interviews with collaborators such as Werner Herzog and Phillip Glass.

Open details →

Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chronicles their friendships, their arrival into American consciousness, their travels, frequent parodies, Kerouac's death, and Ginsberg's politicization. Their movement connects with bebop, John Cage's music, abstract expressionism, and living theater. In recent interviews, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kesey, Ferlinghetti, Mailer, Jerry Garcia, Tom Hayden, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders, and others measure the Beats' meaning and impact.

Open details →

In a picture-perfect seaside town, an insurance salesman begins to realize that his entire existence may be staged and observed by a vast unseen audience as part of a long-running real-time reality TV show.

Open details →

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

Open details →

In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives. Some, such as Norman Lear and Indian activist Russell Means, talk about religion, while composer Philip Glass and film-producer Irwin Winkler discuss the births of their children. Pastor Jess Moody recalls WW II deaths of his friends, and artist Janice Blake remembers being raped.

Open details →

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon had been on the cutting-edge of pop music throughout most of the 1960s and the '70s, first as half of the seminal folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, and then as a well-received solo artist. But the rise of 1980s rock and new wave saw a decline in Simon's commercial success, and the singer responded by experimenting with different musical styles--most notably, world beat--that culminated in his adventurous 1986 masterpiece GRACELAND. The album's fusion of American folk-rock songwriting and buoyant South African rhythms not only broke new ground in pop music, but became Simon's biggest-selling solo record. This episode of the CLASSIC ALBUMS series examines the making of Simon's groundbreaking work through interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, music videos, and live performances of album tracks such as "Boy in the Bubble," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," "You Can Call Me Al," and "Under African Skies."

Open details →

Simon-Pierre Bestion celebrates the musical and cultural heritage of Paris' Notre-Dame with the La Tempête ensemble and a host of guests like Sabine Devieilhe and Olivier Latry, among others.

Open details →

Pianist Vanessa Wagner joins forces with circus artist Chloé Moglia, choreographer Kader Attou, dancers from the Accrorap company and set designers from Collectif Scale to bring Philip Glass's Piano Etudes to life.

Open details →

In the main courtyard of the Palais des Papes, dancers Hugo Marchand and Caroline Osmont perform among Jean-Michel Othoniel's works, choreographed by Carolyn Carlson. A powerful show, accompanied by music by Philip Glass and René Aubry.

Open details →

At the Lightroom in London, pianist Yuja Wang offers an extraordinary recital at the heart of the immersive exhibition devoted to David Hockney. In this concert, the British painter's brightly coloured canvases enter into communion with the musical works performed, ranging from Bach to Samuel Barber. An unusual unison of the visual and audio arts.

Open details →

Academy Award winner Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of David Cornwell, the former spy known to the literary world as John le Carré.

Open details →