Joe Albany: A Jazz Life (1980)

(0) based on 0 votes
The life and times of Joe Albany, a little-known jazz pianist, is the subject of this specialized documentary that not only brings out the pianist himself, but the mood and feeling of the era in which he reached the top. Albany talks about the great musicians and singers he worked with - Billie Holliday and Charlie Parker among them - and how so many succumbed to drugs and died young. He is followed around at home, work, on the bus, and in other settings as he is interviewed by director Carole Langer. His sharp observations and dry sense of humor enliven the stories.
Directors
Release Date
Oct 01, 1980
Runtime
00h 57m
Actors
Genre
Available in streaming on

The life and times of Joe Albany, a little-known jazz pianist, is the subject of this specialized documentary that not only brings out the pianist himself, but the mood and feeling of the era in which he reached the top. Albany talks about the great musicians and singers he worked with - Billie Holliday and Charlie Parker among them - and how so many succumbed to drugs and died young. He is followed around at home, work, on the bus, and in other settings as he is interviewed by director Carole Langer. His sharp observations and dry sense of humor enliven the stories.

Movies like Joe Albany: A Jazz Life

Blindsight

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.
Search similar movies
6.8
Blindsight
Blindsight

2006

Search similar movies
Come and Work

The story of a Serer village in the groundnut basin of Senegal. Using the words of their ancestors passed on by oral folklore, the villagers trace the history of their village and their difficulties in working their land and living off their produce. Fad'jal is an extraordinary boundary defying film that interweaves ethnographic footage, intimate observation of everyday village life and fictionalised historical scenes. With it, Faye carefully encourages the viewers to reflect both on African history and storytelling, and on the intersection of fiction and documentary.
Search similar movies
5.2
Come+and+Work
Come and Work

1979

Search similar movies
Daddy I Do

The Purity Ball symbolizes a father's protection over his daughter's virginity, but how does this reflect in the choices she makes, understanding her sexuality, and knowing her worth as a woman? This documentary examines the effects of Abstinence-Only Programs versus Comprehensive Sex Education in schools and what society can do to help lower teen pregnancies, abortions, and STDS, as well as poverty and sexual abuse.
Search similar movies
7.0
Daddy+I+Do
Daddy I Do

2010

Search similar movies
Iverson

Iverson is the ultimate legacy of NBA legend Allen Iverson, who rose from a childhood of crushing poverty in Hampton, Virginia, to become an 11-time NBA All-Star and universally recognized icon of his sport. Off the court, his audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation. Told largely in Iverson's own words, the film charts the career highs and lows of one of the most distinctive and accomplished figures the sport of basketball has ever seen.
Search similar movies
7.1
Iverson
Meet the Patels

Finding love is never easy. For Ravi Patel, a first generation Indian-American, the odds are slim. His ideal bride is beautiful, smart, funny, family-oriented, kind and—in keeping with tradition—Indian (though hopefully raised in the US). Oh, and her last name should be Patel because in India, Patels usually marry other Patels. And so at 30, Ravi decides to break up with his American girlfriend (the one who by all accounts is perfect for him except for her red hair and American name) and embark on a worldwide search for another Patel longing to be loved. He enlists the help of his matchmaker mother, attends a convention of Patels living in the US and travels to wedding season in India. Witty, honest and heartfelt, this comedy explores the questions with which we all struggle: What is love? What is happiness? And how in the world do we go about finding them?
Search similar movies
7.0
Meet+the+Patels
Meet the Patels

2014

Search similar movies
Sea Sorrow

A very personal and dynamic meditation on the current global refugee crisis through the eyes and voices of campaigners, specially children, where past and present establish a dialogue. A reflection on the importance of human rights.
Search similar movies
5.3
Sea+Sorrow
Sea Sorrow

2017

Search similar movies
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
Search similar movies
6.8
Olympia+Part+One%3A+Festival+of+the+Nations
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

1938

Search similar movies
Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty

Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.
Search similar movies
6.7
Olympia+Part+Two%3A+Festival+of+Beauty
Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty

1938

Search similar movies
The Art of Destruction

The unique music documentary about the legendary thrash metal band Destruction.
Search similar movies
The+Art+of+Destruction
The Art of Destruction

2025

Search similar movies
Tout est permis

Plot unavailable
Search similar movies
7.2
Tout+est+permis
Tout est permis

2014

Search similar movies
The Order of Myths

In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.
Search similar movies
6.0
The+Order+of+Myths
The Order of Myths

2008

Search similar movies
Trick or Treaty?

Legendary Canadian documentarian Alanis Obomsawin digs into the tangled history of Treaty 9 — the infamous 1905 agreement wherein First Nations communities relinquished sovereignty over their traditional territories — to reveal the deceptions and distortions which the document has been subjected to by successive governments seeking to deprive Canada’s First Peoples of their lands.
Search similar movies
Trick+or+Treaty%3F
Trick or Treaty?

2014

Search similar movies
War Dance

Three children living in a displacement camp in northern Uganda compete in their country's national music and dance festival.
Search similar movies
7.2
War+Dance
Wild Genius

Portrays the exceptional life, career, and mental health challenges of living legend Robert Trivers, the evolutionary biologist TIME Magazine named as “one of the greatest scientists of the 20th Century”.
Search similar movies
Wild+Genius
Wild Genius

2024

Search similar movies
Reason Over Passion

The film consists primarily of degraded footage of landscapes shot from vehicles moving across the country; meanwhile, 537 computer-generated permutations of the film’s title appear like subtitles—the letters are scrambled over and over again, undermining the meaning of Pierre Trudeau's infamous motto.
Search similar movies
5.8
Reason+Over+Passion
Reason Over Passion

1969

Search similar movies
The Rape of Recy Taylor

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. The film exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story.
Search similar movies
7.8
The+Rape+of+Recy+Taylor
The Rape of Recy Taylor

2019

Search similar movies
Persecution Blues: the Battle for the Tote!

In 2010, the iconic Tote Hotel – last bastion of Melbourne’s vibrant music counterculture – was forced to close by unfair laws. Filmed over 7 years, “Persecution Blues” depicts the struggle of more than 20,000 fans – and the bands who inspire them – to preserve their history and protect their future, and puts the audience on the front line of an epic-scale culture war.
Search similar movies
6.3
Persecution+Blues%3A+the+Battle+for+the+Tote%21
Persecution Blues: the Battle for the Tote!

2011

Search similar movies
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All

An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.
Search similar movies
8.4
Indigo+Girls%3A+It%27s+Only+Life+After+All
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All

2024

Search similar movies
The Devil Came on Horseback

While serving with the African Union, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle documents the brutal ethnic cleansing occuring in Darfur. Determined that the Western public should know about the atrocities he is witnessing, Steidle contacts New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who publishes some of Steidle's photographic evidence.
Search similar movies
7.2
The+Devil+Came+on+Horseback
The Devil Came on Horseback

2007

Search similar movies
Air Guitar Nation

If your bedroom has become too small a stage for your air guitar antics, take inspiration from the competitors featured here as they battle their way from the inaugural U.S. Air Guitar Championship to the world championship in Oulu, Finland. Along the way, filmmaker Alexandra Lipsitz documents the fierce rivalries that develop as would-be rock legends vie for top honors in technical accuracy, stage presence and "airness."
Search similar movies
6.3
Air+Guitar+Nation
Air Guitar Nation

2006

Search similar movies
Seven Rivers Walking - Haere Mārire

Documentary about the degraded rivers of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Search similar movies
9.0
Seven+Rivers+Walking+-+Haere+M%C4%81rire
Seven Rivers Walking - Haere Mārire

2017

Search similar movies
The Pixar Story

A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.
Search similar movies
7.6
The+Pixar+Story
The Pixar Story

2007

Search similar movies
India Cabaret

A documentary exploring the "respectable" and "immoral" stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of 2 strip-tease dancers in a cabaret house in Bombay.
Search similar movies
6.1
India+Cabaret
India Cabaret

1985

Search similar movies
Destiny in Space

Travel alongside the astronauts as they deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope, soar above Venus and Mars, and find proof of new planets and the possibility of other life forming around distant stars.
Search similar movies
7.2
Destiny+in+Space
Destiny in Space

1994

Search similar movies
Novena

In 2012, Stephen Vaughan and Kay Ferreter are invited to address the congregation at St. Joseph's Redemptorists Church in Dundalk, Ireland for the Solemn Novena Festival. In a powerful speech, the pair describe their experiences being gay and lesbian in Ireland, feeling excluded by Catholic doctrine, and the importance of a more inclusive church.
Search similar movies
9.0
Novena
Melek Leaves

In 1970, Melek Tez came to Berlin as a young worker from Turkey. A confident woman, she first countered racist resentments and remarks with irony and wit. Jokingly, she even referred to herself as a "Kümmeltürkin", a derogatory German term for Turkish migrants. Yet after fourteen humiliating years, her fighting spirit has given way to resignation: Melek Tez is returning to Turkey. Blending documentary, interviews and re-enacted scenes, director Jeanine Meerapfel chronicles Melek Tez' life experience.
Search similar movies
Melek+Leaves
Melek Leaves

1985

Search similar movies
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum

The film tells the story of the intimate and unprecedented encounter between the photojournalists of the Magnum Agency and the world of cinema. The confrontation of two seemingly opposite worlds – fiction and reality. For 70 years their paths crossed: a family of photographers, amongst them the biggest names in photography, and a family of actors and filmmakers who helped write the history of cinema, from John Huston to Marilyn Monroe to Orson Welles, Kate Winslet and Sean Penn.
Search similar movies
7.7
Cinema+Through+the+Eye+of+Magnum
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum

2017

Search similar movies
Great Grand Mother

This short film is an ode to the women who settled the Prairies, from the days of early immigration to 1916 - when Manitobans became the first women in Canada to receive the provincial vote - and beyond. Recollections of women are complemented by a series of quotations drawn from letters, diaries, and newspapers of the day, which are spoken over re-enacted scenes and archival photographs.
Search similar movies
Great+Grand+Mother
Great Grand Mother

1975

Search similar movies
Ocean Giants

A 3-part documentary granting a unique and privileged access into the magical world of whales and dolphins, uncovering the secrets of their intimate lives as never before. Episode 1: Giant Lives / Episode 2: Deep Thinkers / Episode 3: Voices of the Sea
Search similar movies
8.0
Ocean+Giants
Ocean Giants

2011

Search similar movies
Deep Water

DEEP WATER is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who enters the most daring nautical challenge ever – the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race.
Search similar movies
7.3
Deep+Water
Deep Water

2006

Search similar movies
The Yes Men Are Revolting

Activist-pranksters Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano pull the rug out from under mega-corporations, government officials and a complacent media in a series of outrageous stunts designed to draw awareness to the issue of climate change.
Search similar movies
7.1
The+Yes+Men+Are+Revolting
The Yes Men Are Revolting

2014

Search similar movies
Dark Horse

The larger than life true story of how a barmaid in a poor Welsh mining village convinces some of her fellow residents to pool their resources to compete in the "sport of kings" with a racehorse they would breed and raise.
Search similar movies
5.3
Dark+Horse
Dark Horse

2015

Search similar movies
Hobbyhorse Revolution

A film about teenagers with growing pains, who discover their own voice and talent through riding and grooming toy horses.
Search similar movies
6.5
Hobbyhorse+Revolution
Hobbyhorse Revolution

2017

Search similar movies
Life and Debt

Life and Debt is a 2001 American documentary film that examines the economic and social situation in Jamaica, and specifically how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's structural adjustment policies have impacted the island.
Search similar movies
7.2
Life+and+Debt
Life and Debt

2001

Search similar movies
Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation

Canadian director Catherine Annau's debut work is a documentary about the legacy of Pierre Trudeau, the long-running Prime Minister of Canada, who governed during the 1970s. The film focuses particularly on Trudeau's goal of creating a thoroughly bilingual nation. Annau interviews eight people in their mid-30s on both sides of the linguistic divide. One tells of her life growing up in a community of hard-core Quebec separatists, while another, a yuppie from Toronto, recalls believing as a child that people in Montreal got drunk and had sex all day long. Annau has all of the interviewees discuss how Trudeau's policies affected their lives and their perceptions of the other side, in this issue that strikes to the heart of Canada's national identity.
Search similar movies
Just+Watch+Me%3A+Trudeau+and+the+70%27s+Generation
Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation

1999

Search similar movies
I Am Ali

Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
Search similar movies
6.7
I+Am+Ali
Citizenfour

In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.
Search similar movies
7.7
Citizenfour
Citizenfour

2014

Search similar movies
A Rustling of Leaves: Inside the Philippine Revolution

A chronicle of the three points of a political triangle — the legal left, the illegal (armed) revolution, and the enemy which threatens them both: the armed reactionary right. It is 1987. The dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos has just been overthrown. Newly elected President Corazon Aquino struggles to wrench control of the country from her own military. A Rustling of Leaves poses the key question facing the revolutionaries and the Filipino Left: Should the People’s Movement continue the guerilla war, or do they dare enter legal politics and reveal the hidden face of the revolution?
Search similar movies
A+Rustling+of+Leaves%3A+Inside+the+Philippine+Revolution
A Rustling of Leaves: Inside the Philippine Revolution

1988

Search similar movies
The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films

Cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus relive the creation, rise and fall of their independent film company, Cannon Films. This documentary recounts their many successes and discusses their eventual downfall.
Search similar movies
6.4
The+Go-Go+Boys%3A+The+Inside+Story+of+Cannon+Films
The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films

2014

Search similar movies
Trouble the Water

"Trouble the Water" takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall--just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verité and in-your-face filmmaking, it is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.
Search similar movies
6.9
Trouble+the+Water
Trouble the Water

2008

Search similar movies
The Age of Stupid

Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Search similar movies
6.5
The+Age+of+Stupid
The Age of Stupid

2009

Search similar movies