Norman Westberg

Lydia Lunch and Richard Kern's first collaborative effort, The Right Side of My Brain, is a glimpse into the world of unsatiable female lust, narrated by Lydia Lunch. The film was initially dismissed and dismayed by critics such as J. Hoberman, but the criticism of The Right Side of My Brain received only pushed the two to go one step further with Fingered (1986).

From their roots as a brutal, confrontational industrial band, through breakups and chaos, to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there's been one constant since its formation in 1982--singer, songwriter Michael Gira. 'Where Does a Body End?' is a SWANS documentary with unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs. An unfiltered story of a life in the arts, frequent difficulty spanning decades without a safety net, creating work because Gira says "What else am I going to do?"

Swans final New York show in 2024 included on a limited-edition DVD available with initial CD and vinyl pressings of Birthing.

Features live footage from the Greed/Holy Money tour in 1986 in London and Nottingham and the A Long Slow Screw video.

Shots of walking down 42nd Street showing storefronts including everything from Texas Fried Chicken to 25¢ porn arcades.

Swans recorded live in 2013. Track listing: To Be Kind - Just a Little Boy - Coward - She Loves Us - Oxygen - The Seer - Bring The Sun / Toussaint L'Ouverture

Included in some CD releases of the Swans album The Glowing Man. Recorded live in 2015.

A live recording of Foetus' November 1990 performance in Manhattan's CBGB nightclub. It was released on VHS originally, and later onto DVD. It was also released as an album.

Festivalhalle Moers, Moers, Germany

SWANS recorded live 2013. Track listing: To Be Kind (20:41) - Just a Little Boy (10:06) - Coward (8:36) - She Loves Us (18:17) - Oxygen (7:17) - The Seer / Toussaint L'Ouverture (45:35)

Live footage with three bands: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Crime And The City Solution, Swans. Recorded at Knopf's Music Hall, Hamburg, August 15th, 1987.

On stage, backstage, and at home with Michael Gira and Swans. Short documentary by Pitchfork

Included in some CD releases of the Swans album. A live performance, recorded in 2013.

SWANS recorded live 2010/2011. Track listing: No Words / No Thoughts (18:50) - Avatar (10:36) - The Apostate (19:31) - Beautiful Child (Fragment) (3:43) - Jim (8:16) - Sex God Sex (7:13) - The Seer / I Crawled (32:16)

7/3/2015 Poland

This DVD features 13 provocative short films by Richard Kern. Color & B&W film shorts with Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins and more. Includes Death Valley 69 , The Right Side Of My Brain, You Killed Me First, The Bitches, The Sewing Circle, X is Y, Fingered, Horoscope, Submit to Me Now, My Nightmare, Manhattan Loves Suicides, Submit to Me, and Evil Cameraman. Music from Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, J.G. Thirwell, Butthole Surfers.

One of Richard Kern’s most ambitious works is Fingered (1986), whose sarcastic disclaimer says “although it is not our sole intention to shock, insult, or irritate, you have been warned that we are catering only to our own preferences.” The film came about following the criticism of Kern and Lydia Lunch's first collaborative venture: The Right Side of My Brain (1984).