The Murder Ballad of James Jones (2014)

Eric Clapton: Sessions for Robert J

Live, intimate, and raw, Sessions For Robert J is the essential audio/video companion to Eric Clapton's 2004 gold, Top 10 Me And Mr. Johnson, tribute to blues legend Robert Johnson. Filmed during tour rehearsals in London and Dallas plus a Los Angeles hotel room and the Dallas warehouse where Johnson made some of his final recordings, Sessions for Robert J finds Clapton performing all Robert Johnson songs with his touring band, acoustically with Doyle Bramhall II and solo-as well as discussing Johnson and his influence. A performance/documentary DVD with 14 tracks (from which the 11 CD selections are taken), Sessions for Robert J is blues heaven.

The Critical Witness

The disappearance of nursing student Holly Bobo remains a mystery for years. Even after a tight-knit group of four men are charged in her abduction and murder, no one knows for sure who killed her and why. Everything changes when one defendant turns a state’s witness. What he reveals on the stand is utterly shocking.

All Day and All Night: Memories from Beale Street Musicians

Blues legends B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, plus Evelyn Young, Gatemouth Moore, Fred Ford, Honeymoon Garner, Booker T. Laury, and others play jam sessions & tell stories about Memphis' Beale Street. Filmed in Memphis in the late 80's, the award-winning documentary has been lovingly remastered and restored from the original 16mm film and audio tape. A personal look at a neighborhood where the music lasted "all day and all night". It's a must-see for any music fan.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

Big Fish Blues

Long Island (aka the Big Fish) was home to a blues scene that was one of the most incredible and fantastic musical experiences. From the early 1960's through the 1990's, people went to music clubs to hear the blues. Long Island was a home base to many of the top blues musicians who had fans from all over the world. Back in the day, fans would follow them weekly from club to club while their popularity grew worldwide. The Big Fish Blues documentary reveals a genre and a host of incredible performances by these Long Island blues greats. You will also learn about their journeys to success from their personal stories. So sit back, relax, let your hair down, and simply have some fun as you experience the "Blues way of life."

My Name is Ottilie

Soul singer Dana Masters traces the story of Ottilie Patterson, who for a dazzling few years in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a pioneer of British jazz and blues music and inspiration to later groups such as The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things.

The Concert for Bangladesh

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads

Robert Johnson was one of the most influential blues guitarists ever. Even before his early death, fans wondered if he'd made a pact with the Devil.

Bonnie Blue: James Cotton's Life in the Blues

The story of James Cotton, harmonica powerhouse, whose music shaped blues and rock. Orphaned at 9, Cotton’s life tracks America’s history—from the post-depression cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta to being mentored by the original Delta bluesmen, to Chicagoland’s artistic reinvention to the live music scene in Austin, Texas.

Keith Richards: Under the Influence

A portrait of Keith Richards that takes us on a journey to discover the genesis of his sound as a songwriter, guitarist and performer.

Monochrome: Black, White & Blue

From America's deep South, to Detroit and New York this captivating and enlightening documentary special traces the evolution of blues through pivotal moments in American history. Brewer discovers that there was no music called 'the blues' when its creators just stepped into a new feel of musical expressionism… just a means of releasing a lifetime of pain and oppression, from which music, momentarily, set them free.

America's Blues

America's Blues takes a new angle on the Blues, focusing on, not only the musical impact it has had on all forms of Popular American Music, but also the influence it has had on art, fashion, language, film and racial equality.

Halsted Street, USA

This documentary takes the viewer on a journey along Halsted Street, from the southern tip of Illinois, north through various Chicago neighborhoods, to the end of the road at Broadway in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

Muscle Shoals

In a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, something miraculous sprang from the mud of the Tennessee River. A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of the greatest music of all time: “Mustang Sally,” “I Never Loved a Man,” “Wild Horses,” and many more. During the most incendiary periods of racial hostility, white folks and black folks came together to create music that would last for generations and gave birth to the incomparable “Muscle Shoals sound.”

Two Trains Runnin'

The search of several young, white men for blues singers who have been missing for decades coincides with the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi in the 1960s.

Leo from Chicago

The Vatican media documentary about the roots of Robert Francis Prevost in his native United States. It follows an itinerary that begins with his childhood in Dolton, through the memories of his brothers Louis and John, and continues among schools and universities, communities and parishes, featuring the voices of confreres, teachers, classmates, and longtime friends. A production of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Apostolate El Sembrador Nueva Evangelización (ESNE), broadcast on the official channels of Vatican Radio – Vatican News.

Harlem Street Singer

Harlem Street Singer tells the little-known story of Reverend Gary Davis, the great American ragtime, blues and gospel guitarist. Not only is he one of the greatest folk guitar players of all time, he also represents the sweep of popular music in America during the twentieth century. Harlem Street Singer traces his journey from the tobacco warehouses of the rural south to the streets of Harlem, and onto the 1960s folk music scene, a blind street musician and itinerant preacher who rose out of abject poverty to influence a generation of musicians from Ramblin’ Jack Elliott to the Grateful Dead.

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

An unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told through his own words and songs.

Camera Roll 3 (2018-2022)

The third iteration of a continuing diary film. Five years and one roll of film distilled into three and a half minutes. The filmmaker captures a distinct period in their life, living and moving from Ithaca, New York to Chicago, experiencing and exiting the pandemic, seeing friends and taking road trips. Sound captured separately on a micro cassette recorder between 2019-2022.

John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly

John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly chronicles the musical evolution of one of the most influential solo artists of his generation. Featuring rare demos, interviews and live performances; it is told in it's entirety from Mayer's perspective. Centered mostly on his career and professional accomplishments, Someday I'll Fly strips away the typical gossip surrounding Mayer to provide an intimate look at the life and career of a lauded musician.

HAIYU: Rebel Singer Mariem Hassan and the Struggle for a Free Western Sahara

HAIYU interweaves Mariem Hassan’s music and her personal quest for her country’s independence with larger historical events dating back to the region’s Spanish colonisation, and subsequent occupation by Morocco.

Point of View: A Retrospective of Joe Sedelmaier

As one of his generation's quintessential Mad Men, television commercial director Joe Sedelmaier's work was iconic, dynamic, and instantly recognizable--some twenty to thirty years later, people are still wondering 'Where's the beef?” He turned the advertising world on its brain-damaged head by casting offbeat non-actors in still-unforgettable spots. His brilliant, frequently hysterical commercials for Wendy's, Alaska Airlines, Federal Express and others were snappy slices of cultural quirk that tapped into the Cold War-fearing, corporate workaholic zeitgeist of the '70s and '80s with a sense of humor that cracked billions of smiles, sold billions of burgers, and sped up the default rhythm of time-based media.

Vito

This 1978 documentary classic is an inside look at the old-style Chicago Machine politics of the Richard J. Daley era, where Alderman Vito Marzullo ran his West Side 25th Ward virtually unchallenged from 1953-1985.

In Pictures Did You Get It Right?

A love letter to the first three months of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Devil Got My Woman: Blues at Newport 1966

Shot after hours at Newport Folk in 1966 by American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, this recording features 14 performances by such blues greats as Son House, Skip James and Howlin’ Wolf among others.

Ghost World

Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

Lady Sings the Blues

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

Monster

The story of Steve Harmon, a 17-year-old honor student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.

Yokohama BJ Blues

BJ is a relatively unknown blues singer who scraps some bars in Yokohama. He does not earn much with it and to make ends meet he also acts as a private detective.

Leadbelly

The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.

The Rhythm and the Blues

Blues legend Eddie Taylor struggles against financial hardship and music industry exploitation to make a name for himself and provide a better life for his family.

B.B. King & Friends

Live concert recording of B.B. King playing with many guests, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Etta James, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Billy Ocean & Phil Collins.

The Madison

Walter Schmitt, a once-prominent Chicago hotel developer, fights to revive his stalled legacy through an ambitious international expansion. When the pressure mounts, a chance encounter with a mysterious, powerful investor sparks a high-stakes new chapter that tests the limits of his ambition.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill

It's 1959 in a seedy bar in Philadelphia, and Billie Holiday is giving one of her last performances interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music 4 months before her death.

B.B. King: The King of the blues Stuttgart - 1997

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The Man Who Lived Twice

A hardened criminal is transformed into a responsible member of society after he undergoes plastic surgery.

Rhythm Parade

A nightclub performer, jealous about the talents of an aspiring singer, tries to sabotage her chances at a professional career.

Albert King & B.B. King: Japan Blues Carnival

Albert King & B.B. King live at the Japan Blues Carnival 1989.