NZFF Doco's with Magnetic Fields, Trinity Roots & More

The New Zealand International Film Festival is rolling into a town near you soon and 2010 sees a host of the newest and best music documentaries and films feature in the line-up. From The Magnetic Fields to The Doors, Trinity Roots to The Runaways, there are all sorts of interesting flicks to check out.

For further information on all films, including ticketing and times, head to the NZFF website HERE.

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt may be the greatest American songwriter you’ve never heard of. Renowned for his deadpan demeanour, he has been called ‘the grumpiest man alive’ by nonplussed interviewers, but this affectionate film, shot over ten years, draws him out of his shell.

Oil City Confidential

“This highly entertaining film, a study of the pub rock blues band Dr Feelgood, completes Julien Temple’s trilogy on British rock in the 70s.” — Philip French, The Observer.
  “Julien Temple has made many movies about music – about the Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer and Glastonbury. But I don’t think he’s ever made a film as good, and purely insightful as this one.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention

“Trimpin is a sonic experimenter, a combination of inventor, engineer and composer, who builds stunning installations, such as a mountain of self-tuning, automatic electric guitars or a perpetual motion machine. Peter Esmonde followed this brilliant eccentric over a two-year period... emerging with this insightful, exultant documentary portrait.” — Michael Hayden, London Film Festival

TrinityRoots, Music is Choice

World Premiere
Sarah Hunter’s music-filled documentary is a sharp and lively memento of the jazz-inflected Wellington reggae unit TrinityRoots. The film draws on generous footage of the band rehearsing, recording and performing, along with friendly testimony from critics, collaborators and their mums.

Tom DiCillo summons the inflammatory spirit of 60s art-rock group The Doors and its blazingly beautiful frontman Jim Morrison in a brilliant collage of performance footage shot between 1966 and 1971, much of it never-before-seen.

A quintessential French icon gets his big-screen bio. 60s singer Serge Gainsbourg mixed pop outlawry with low-down lechery to blaze his own hipster manifesto, seducing Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin along the way. “This imaginative, exuberant and affectionate take on the man, his music and his times is a treasure trove for his fans and a witty introduction to anyone unfamiliar with his legend.” — Pam Grady, San Francisco International Film Festival.

The Runaways

“The Runaways tells the story of its namesake band – the all-girl teen band that launched Joan Jett’s career in the 1970s. It tells the age-old tale of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, but with the twist that it’s all from a young woman’s perspective… The sheer force of the girl-power energy… combined with the contagious ferocity of the music will leave you jumpy – in a good way.” — Andi Teran, Vanity Fair

Under the Southern Cross

Musicians Warren Maxwell, Maaka McGregor and Himiona Grace were commissioned by the New Zealand Film Archive to devise a new soundtrack and bring fresh perspective to this ‘Mâori folk drama’ made by Hollywood’s Universal Studios in 1928. “The three of us have the same backgrounds culturally and musically… We really pushed our limits playing new instruments and styles including the violin and a very unrhythmic bandsaw coupled with ‘house beats’ and funk.” — Himiona Grace

The Wind Journeys

The wild splendours of the Colombian landscape form a spectacular backdrop for the odyssey of a tough old accordion player and a young wannabe musician. “Deeply affecting and boldly unsentimental.” — Macleans

Thanks to Jim from Galesburg for compiling the info above.