Music

Examines the role of culture in the struggle for national liberation in South Africa by interspersing performances by the Amandla Cultural Ensemble with footage of the mass singing of resistance songs on the streets of South Africa and interviews with leading cultural workers of the African National Congress.

This prize-winning musical comedy/documentary, blending documentary, musical theater and personal memoir, is about three Native American sisters growing up in Brooklyn during the 1930s and '40s.

This musical biography is a documentary-style recreation of the life of Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Ireland's greatest national lyric poet, whose melodies and poems were revered throughout 19th-century Europe.

Examines both the continuity and the changes that have affected Irish traditional music since the turn of the century. Using New York City as the focus, this video mixes historical photographs and film footage with contemporary interviews and performances.

Tells the story of Joe Hill (1879-1915), a Swedish immigrant to America who became a songwriter, cartoonist and labor organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and whose 1915 execution by the state of Utah for a crime he probably did not commit transformed him into a martyr for the labor movement and an international folk hero.

Features the musical traditions and verbal recollections of eight retired African-American railroad track laborers, whose occupational folk songs were once heard along the railroad lines that crisscross the South.

Examines the dangers of hearing loss from listening to or performing loud music, featuring interviews with American and European rock musicians as well as rock music fans, sound engineers and audiologists.

This feature-length video features Harold Hayslett, a retired pipefitter and master builder of violins and cellos, and documents in fascinating detail, from start to finish, the entire process of his construction of a cello.

This biographial profile of a woman whose career has successfully combined gospel and popular music moves from smoky clubs to a Sweet Inspirations reunion concert, from nostalgic gospel singing with The Drinkard Singers to a sold-out concert with Cissy's daughter Whitney.

Examines the cultural and political history of plena, a Puerto Rican musical blend of African and Spanish rhythms, featuring great performers of the past and contemporary attempts to preserve plena.

Portrays a summer bagpipe school in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where piping enthusiasts from all over North America gather to learn the craft and music of the traditional instrument of the Scottish highlands.

Captures the spirit and charm of the legacy of Elvis Presley by accompanying a fan through Elvis country, from Tupelo, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee. The video visits his birthplace and other shrines of Presleydom, meets people who were associated with Elvis, plus his adoring fans and impersonators.