Bill Frisell
Sound
Biography
William Richard Frisell is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant in the Downtown Scene in New York City, where he formed a long working relationship with composer and saxophonist John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of veteran drummer Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since the late 1990s, Frisell's output as a bandleader has also integrated prominent elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and Americana. He has six Grammy nominations and one win.
Known For

An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner trying to take over a slew of local farms. Ray Dokes, a charming ex-ballplayer, returns from jail to discover the rural landscape of his childhood transformed by urban development. Determined to stay out of trouble, Ray heads to the farm of his old friend Pete Culpepper, a crusty Texas cowboy who trains losing racehorses and whose debts are growing faster than his corn.
All Hat

In a high school in the outskirts of Rome, it's the last day before the summer holidays. A literature teacher reminisces the past year and wonders what will become of the students he cared for as if they were his children.
La scuola

Five days in the life of fabled Greenwich Village guitar store Carmine Street Guitars.
Carmine Street Guitars

Pop chronicles the journey of three generations of Meyerowitz men on a road trip from Florida to the Bronx, in exploration of their familial roots. Joel’s father, Hy, is battling Alzheimer’s disease and so they embark on a “quest to see if, along the way, the adventures and experiences we would have could stimulate his now rapidly failing memory.” The film directed and produced by our Joel Meyerowitz. It is touching, funny, poignant, and beautifully captures the strength of intimacy between fathers and sons.
Pop

Made by re-editing a deteriorated nitrate print of The Bells (1926), starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff, this work shows the fragility of the film image while foreshadowing the Holocaust.
The Mesmerist

A series of Gary Larson's "Far Side" gags are turned into short animated gags, such as a Frankenstein cow; an insect airline's in-flight movie; deers, hunters, and ufos; wolf home-movies; egg horror flicks; and cowboys & aliens.
Tales from the Far Side

The complex and revolutionary music and lyrics of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, the glam rock powerhouse behind “Bang a Gong (Get it On)” and other iconic songs. Featuring archival performances and interviews with Elton John, Ringo Starr, and David Bowie, plus filmed musical interpretations by artists such as Nick Cave, John Cameron Mitchell, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, U2, and Father John Misty.
AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex

An anthology of original animated shorts in the style and theme of Gary Larson's Far Side comics.
Tales from the Far Side II

A rare peek into the working methods of John Zorn. Filmed over a ten year period, this documentary includes live footage of Masada, Naked City, Cobra, as well as improvisations, his classical work and rare interviews. A prize winner at European festivals, this film documents Heuermann's very personal, fifteen year odyssey with the music of John Zorn.
A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn

Seattle’s swampy rivers and wild forests set an atmospheric scene for the tale of Earth – the slowest metal band on earth – which created the drone metal genre, was an inspiration to the grunge rock scene and had an unfortunate hand in Kurt Cobain’s death.
Even Hell Has Its Heroes

This documentary follows the lives of the Bowling family as they fight to survive in dirt-poor Appalachia. Matriarch Iree has given birth to 13 children, but only two have left to seek better lives in Ohio while the rest have married and started their own impoverished families near home. Uneducated and unskilled, all are unemployed, and domestic violence and alcoholism pose serious problems. The filmmakers explore the family's relationships through interviews and footage of their daily lives.
American Hollow

Truth or Consequences is a speculative documentary about time and how we weave the past into the present and our possible future. Set in the small desert town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the film takes place in the shadow of a nearby Spaceport and the commercial exploration of space. Through the lives of the people in town and a filmmaker from the future, the film explores progress, echoes of history, and how we each navigate a sense of loss, within ourselves and within a changing world.
Truth or Consequences

Music for Black Pigeons is the first collaboration between Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed. The film poses existential questions to influential jazz players such as Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Midori Takada and many others: How does it feel to play, and what does it mean to listen? What is it like to be a human being and spending your whole life trying to express something through sounds? The characters wake up, rehearse, record, perform and talk about music. In some moments they are on the edge, the edge of existence, constantly challenging themselves. They listen. They devote themselves to finding a space to create a connection to something bigger than themselves. Something that will outlast all of us.
Music for Black Pigeons

Inside Scofield is a feature documentary about master guitarist and touring musician John Scofield.
Inside Scofield

The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places and inundated 27,000 square miles to a depth of up to 30 feet. Part of it enduring legacy was the mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers. Musically, the Great Migration of rural southern blacks to Northern cities saw the Delta Blues electrified and reinterpreted as the Chicago Blues, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. Using minimal text and no spoken dialog, filmmaker Bill Morrison and composer - guitarist Bill Frisell have created a powerful portrait of a seminal moment in American history through a collection of silent images matched to a searing original soundtrack.
The Great Flood

This documentary focuses on the artistry of director Bill Morrison, who leverages decaying film stock from years past to tell new stories that are relevant to today's audiences. The decaying film lends brilliant visuals which add to Morrison's concept of storytelling.
Cinema of Decay: The Films of Bill Morrison

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.
The Film of Her
A rough but beautiful documentary film about the crisis of a man in his forties and his desire for a better life; its a story of parenthood, alcohol, Finnish man and his desire for love. It is also an unusually intimate depiction of the relationship between the father and his son. Despite the seriousness of the topic the film includes black humor and situational comedy
Portrait of a Man

A lonely man's relationship to his doppelganger leads to plagiarism.
Doppelgänger Paul

The short film was made from material shot for a Levi’s commercial on which Gus Van Sant was given complete freedom. Van Sant delivered the ad, and separately made his own short film; one that feels complete in and unto itself. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.