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Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life

by Robert Levi

The composer of "Take the A-Train" and other Duke Ellington hits, Billy Strayhorn struggled with obscurity and prejudice as a successful gay man in the tumultuous middle of the 20th century.

Independent Lens

Companeras

by Elizabeth Massie and Matthew Buzzell

Compañeras profiles America’s first all-female mariachi band, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, founded in 1994.

Global Voices, Independent Lens

Copyright Criminals

by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod

Can you own a sound? Copyright Criminals examines the history and influence of musical sampling, provoking debates about copyright, compensation, and creativity in the age of intellectual property.

Independent Lens

D Tour

by Jim Granato

Refusing to let a failing kidney deter him, indie rock drummer Pat Spurgeon goes on tour with his band while searching for a donor and administering his own dialysis.

Independent Lens

End of the Century: The Ramones

by Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia

End of the Century follows punk progenitors The Ramones through more than two decades of touring, recording, and bickering.

Independent Lens

Eroica!

by Alan Miller

Meet the world-class chamber ensemble the Eroica Trio as they navigate longtime friendships, work, home, and the pressure leading up to the premiere of a new symphony.

Independent Lens

For Once in My Life

by Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann

Every member of the Spirit of Goodwill band copes with incredible challenges and obstacles, but nothing holds them back when it's time to rock the house.

Independent Lens

Watch it online

Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway

by Kelly and Lou Gonda, with Albert Maysles

How did two women living in unimaginable squalor and total isolation become legendary icons? And how did their gothic story end up as, of all things, a Broadway musical?

Independent Lens

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

by Byron Hurt

Take an in-depth look at masculinity in rap music and hip-hop culture — where creative genius, poetic beauty, and mad beats collide with misogyny, violence, and homophobia.

Independent Lens, Women and Girls Lead

Watch it online

Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew

by Brian Gerber and Matthew Buzzell

Overcoming Kallman's Syndrome, prejudice, self-destruction and powerful enemies in the music industry, rediscovered jazz legend Jimmy Scott recounts his rise and fall and rise again as one of the most distinctive vocalists of our time.

Independent Lens

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