Sound Unseen 2020 announces film and events lineup with the Bee Gees, Frank Zappa, the GoGos’ Kathy Valentine, Doc Severinsen and more.
The Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival (November 11-15) announced the film lineup for this year’s 21st edition of the popular film festival. Darius Marder’s SOUND OF METAL will be the Opening Night selection, and Frank Marshall’s highly anticipated documentary THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART is the Centerpiece for this year’s edition which will virtually present its films across two states – Minnesota and Texas – for the first time in the film festival’s history. Sound Unseen had previously announced that Alex Winter’s ZAPPA would be this year’s Closing Night selection.
Rebecca Heidenberg’s QUEENS OF THE REVOLUTION will make its World Premiere at Sound Unseen, and the film festival will also mark the North American Premiere of Peter Guyer and Thomas Burkhalter’s CONTRADICT, as well as the US Premiere of Kirsten Kosloski’s FIVE BUCKS AT THE DOOR: THE STORY OF CROCKS N ROLL.
Virtual appearances include director Allan Moyle, producer Sandy Stern, and actress Samantha Mathis participating in a 30th Anniversary discussion of PUMP UP THE VOLUME, the Go Go’s Kathy Valentine (talking about her book, All I Ever Wanted), journalist Jim Walsh (with his book, Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis), author Steven Hyden (with his book, This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s Kid A), actors Kyle Gallner & Emily Skeggs (DINNER IN AMERICA), artist/filmmaker TT The ARTIST (DARK CITY BENEATH THE BEAT), and TV legend Doc Severinsen (with the film, NEVER TOO LATE: THE DOC SEVERINSEN STORY).
Sound Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell and Program Director Rich Gill, said, “This year we have an exciting lineup of films we have been looking forward to seeing for some time now, some great discoveries, and virtual appearances by very cool filmmakers, film subjects, authors, and more. It couldn’t be a better year to reach across state lines and bring the Sound Unseen experience to film and music fans in both Minnesota and Texas. We’re especially excited to open our doors to Texas and give them their first opportunity to check out what we’ve been doing for two decades now.”
On Wednesday, November 11, Darius Marder’s SOUND OF METAL will open the film festival. The film focuses on a punk-metal drummer and recovering heroin addict who begins to lose his hearing, and is checked into a secluded sober house for the deaf in hopes it will prevent a relapse and help him learn to adapt to his new situation. After being welcomed into a community that accepts him just as he is, Ruben has to choose between his equilibrium and the drive to reclaim the life he once knew.
Screening Friday, November 13, Frank Marshall’s THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART, focuses on the legendary band whose songs seemed to live on the charts for four decades, including twenty number one hits throughout their career. The film chronicles the rise of the iconic group, consisting of brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, from their modest beginnings to the stratospheric success and influence of their music over the years.
Other highlights include the World Premiere of Rebecca Heidenberg’s QUEENS OF THE REVOLUTION . The film looks at Mejunje, a cultural center in Santa Clara and the people there that fought for LGBTQ+ rights in Cuba. Peter Guyer and Thomas Burkhalter’s CONTRADICT will make its North American Premiere at Sound Unseen. The film follows six musicians in Ghana making music and challenging the status quo. Making its US Premiere will be Kirsten Kosloski’s FIVE BUCKS AT THE DOOR: THE STORY OF CROCKS N ROLL, which focuses on the place that was considered the epicenter of Canadian pop culture in the 80s and 90s. Adam Rehmeier’s raucous comedy and Sundance hit DINNER IN AMERICA, is about an aggro punk rocker (Kyle Gallner) who finds himself on the run again after a bout of arson and a close call with the police. A chance encounter with an eccentric girl (Emily Skeggs) provides him a place to hide, though she fails to realize that her new friend is the anonymous lead singer of her favorite band. Kevin Bright and Jeff Consiglio’s NEVER TOO LATE: THE DOC SEVERINSEN STORY follows The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson master trumpeter as he defies nature with a relentless schedule of touring and performing into his nineties. Severinsen will also participate in a post-screening Q&A.
Sound Unseen will add to this year’s festival experience with live music, a sequel of last year’s popular concert promoters roundtable, and a series of virtual appearances by the authors and subjects of music-related and focused books, including; The Go Go’s Kathy Valentine (All I Ever Wanted), journalist Jim Walsh (Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis), author Steven Hyden (This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s Kid A), and, of course, the PUMP UP THE VOLUME anniversary discussion with Moyle, Stern and Mathis on hand will be a true highlight of the film festival.
For more information about Sound Unseen, as well as how to purchase passes and tickets, go to: http://www.soundunseen.com. Individual tickets will go on sale, Wednesday, November 4.
The 2020 Sound Unseen Film Festival official selections:
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
SOUND OF METAL Texas Premiere
Director: Darius Marder
Country: US, Belgium, Running Time: 130 min
During a series of adrenaline-fueled one-night gigs, itinerant punk-metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. When a specialist tells him his condition will rapidly worsen, he thinks his music career —and with it his life —is over. His bandmate and girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) checks the recovering heroin addict into a secluded sober house for the deaf in hopes it will prevent a relapse and help him learn to adapt to his new situation. But after being welcomed into a community that accepts him just as he is, Ruben has to choose between his equilibrium and the drive to reclaim the life he once knew.
CENTERPIECE SELECTION
THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A Minnesota & Texas Premiere
BROKEN HEART
Director: Frank Marshall
Country: US, Running Time: 111 min
THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Frank Marshall, spotlights the legendary band who wrote more than 1,000 songs, including twenty number one hits throughout their career. The film chronicles the rise of the iconic group, consisting of brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, their music and its evolution over the years. An HBO Documentary Film.
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
ZAPPA Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Alex Winter
Country: US, Running Time: 127 min
With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood. Ray White and others.
Additional Feature Films
BEN DESOTO: FOR ART’S SAKE Minnesota Premiere
Directors: Andrew Benavides, Michael Zapata
Country: US, Running Time: 33 min
BEN DESOTO: FOR ART’S SAKE is the story of Ben DeSoto, Houstonian and photographer who worked as a photojournalist for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post thirty years ago.
In this documentary, DeSoto reminisces and examines his work, capturing and documenting various genres of innovative music, such as punk rock and rap, as well as current events in Houston, Texas. Having now moved away from that bustling time in his life, DeSoto is now reflecting and wants to share his work with the world. This is the film to make any avid photojournalist, photographer, filmmaker, Houston rap fan or Texas punk disciple take it all in not just for sheer interest, but for the rich music history.
BLEEDING AUDIO Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Chelsea Christer
Country: US, Running Time: 90 min
Like many acts in the early 2000s, The Matches were set to be the next ‘big thing’. After building a tight-knit music community in the Bay Area, they broke out and became an internationally touring act. An eclectic group of artistic weirdos, the band grew a thriving cult fan base worldwide. For nearly a decade, The Matches toured mercilessly, but couldn’t seem to return with more than a few hundred dollars. Between exhaustion and defeat, the band dissolved in 2009. In 2014, they decided to humbly reunite for what started as a small local show in San Francisco.
CONTRADICT
Director: Peter Guyer, Thomas Burkhalter North America Premiere
Country: Switzerland, Running Time: 79 min
Two friends collect money for America in the streets of Accra: fun, political provocation or prophecy? Two Swiss filmmakers will get to the bottom of these questions together with six musicians from Ghana: M3nsa, Wanlov The Kubolor, Adomaa, Worlasi, Akan, Mutombo Da Poet and Poetra Asantewa. The ideas and trends of tomorrow are emerging in a globalized world more decentralized than ever: How do you see the change in values of our time from the African continent? How do you want to confront and contradict it? And can new visions for the future become new global realities? CONTRADICT shows this new generation of musicians who also continue the post-colonial struggles of their parents and grandparents with new methods. They produce cheaply thanks to new software and spread their concerns rapidly over the Internet. In their music, they demand a new role for Africa in today’s world, strengthen women’s self-confidence, combat plastic delusion and teach their peers self-acceptance, self-confidence and self-esteem.
CRESTONE Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Marnie Ellen Hertzler
Country: US, Running Time: 73 min
In a world that undulates between fact and fiction, digital and physical, a group of SoundCloud rappers live a solitary, post-societal existence in the desert town of Crestone, Colorado. Once a religious and spiritual mecca for many, Crestone’s endless sand dunes, waterfalls, and dark caves act as a backdrop for images of tattooed bodies, cosplay wardrobes, and clouds of weed smoke.
DARK CITY BENEATH THE BEAT Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: TT the Artist
Country: US, Running Time: 65 min
DARK CITY BENEATH THE BEAT is a musical documentary reimagining the narrative of Baltimore, a city rising above social and economic turmoil to develop a vibrant and close-knit community for the arts through its homegrown sound Baltimore club music. The film defines the soundscape of Baltimore through personal narratives of the city’s local club artists, DJs, dancers, producers, and creative community as they are realizing their life dreams. Rhythmic and raw, these stories are intercut with musical sequences that illustrate the unique characteristics of the “Charm City’s” landscape.
DINNER IN AMERICA Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Adam Rehmeier
Country: US, Running Time: 106 min
In a dreary Midwestern suburb, aggro punk rocker Simon (Kyle Gallner) finds himself on the run again after a bout of arson and a close call with the police. A chance encounter with the eccentric Patty (Emily Skeggs) provides him a place to hide, though she fails to realize that her new friend is the anonymous lead singer of her favorite band. As the two embark on a series of misadventures, they realize they have a lot more in common than they first expected.
FIVE BUCKS AT THE DOOR: THE STORY US Premiere
OF CROCKS N ROLL
Director: Kirsten Kosloski
Country: Canada, Running Time: 81 min
In the mid-’80s and early ’90s, the heyday of indie rock, Crocks N Rolls became the epicenter of Canadian pop culture. Located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, atop the iconic Highway 61, Crocks (as it is affectionately called by its patrons) was a bridge for East and West coast musicians crisscrossing their way through the country. The story focuses on those pre-internet days of D.I.Y. culture and the grassroots alternative movement.
JOSE FELICIANO: BEHIND THIS GUITAR Minnesota Premiere
Director: Frank Licari & Helen Murphy
Country: US, Running Time: 89 min
Chronicling the 55+ year career and life of 9-time Grammy winner Jose Feliciano, the film takes us from the slums of Puerto Rico to the World Stage as we follow Feliciano from his meager roots, to growing up in Spanish Harlem and being discovered in Greenwich Village in the early 60’s. Feliciano was the first Latin cross-over artist that paved the way for all others, being the first Latin winner of the Best New Artist award at The Grammys. He was also the first to ever stylize the National Anthem and one of the pioneers of mixing musical genres.
**AVAILABLE IN MINNESOTA ONLY
KEYBOARD FANTASIES: THE BEVERLY Minnesota Premiere
GLENN-COPELAND STORY
Director: Posy Dixon
Country: UK, Running Time: 63 min
As a sci-fi obsessed woman living in near isolation, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote and self-released Keyboard Fantasies in Huntsville, Ontario back in 1986. Recorded in an Atari-powered home studio, the cassette featured seven tracks of a curious folk-electronica hybrid, a sound realized far before its time. Three decades on the musician – now Glenn Copeland – began to receive emails from people across the world, thanking him for the music they’d recently discovered. Courtesy of a rare-record collector in Japan, a reissue of Keyboard Fantasies and subsequent plays by Four Tet, Caribou and more, the music had finally found its audience two generations down the line. KEYBOARD FANTASIES: THE BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND STORY sees the protagonist commit his life and music to screen for the first time – an intimate coming of age story spinning pain and the suffering of prejudice into rhythm, hope and joy.
MAURICE HINES: BRING THEM BACK Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: John Carluccio
Country: US, Running Time: 93 min
An intimate portrait of a trailblazing African American entertainer who navigates the highs and lows of his lengthy showbiz career, and a complex relationship with his superstar brother, Gregory Hines.
MOLTO BELLA Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Alexander Jeffrey
Country: Italy, US, Running Time: 91 min
In the Sicilian town of Taormina, an aspiring poet in search of inspiration meets a folk singer trying to write a follow up to her breakout hit. Their chemistry sparks collaboration, challenging each other to express their thorniest secrets, growing closer all the while.
NEVER TOO LATE: THE DOC SEVERINSEN Minnesota & Texas Premiere
STORY
Directors: Kevin Bright, Jeff Consiglio
Country: US, Running Time: 84 min
After three decades as the colorful bandleader on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, master trumpeter Doc Severinsen defies nature with a relentless schedule of touring and performing into his nineties. A beloved musical icon traces his groundbreaking career and personal trials underscoring a life of inspiration and obsession.
QUEENS OF THE REVOLUTION World Premiere
Director: Rebecca Heidenberg
Country: Cuba, US, Running Time: 78 min
QUEENS OF THE REVOLUTION is a portrait of Mejunje, a cultural center in Santa Clara that paved the road for LGBTQ+ rights in Cuba. The film highlights the bravery of people who have fought for their lives and identities for decades. Meandering through the streets of Santa Clara, into the homes of drag performers and on to the stage, the film tells the story of Mejunje through a chorus of voices. This community was violently persecuted but instead of fleeing, they chose to stay and fight for change in the country they love.
STARDUST Minnesota Premiere
Director: Gabriel Range
Country: UK, Running Time: 109 min
David Bowie is one of the most seminal legends in music history; but who was the man behind the many faces? In 1971, a 24-year-old fledgling David Bowie (Johnny Flynn) is sent to America to promote his newest record, “The Man Who Sold the World.” Leaving behind his pregnant wife Angie (Jena Malone), Bowie and his band embark on a makeshift coast-to-coast promotional tour with struggling Mercury Records publicist Rob Oberman (Marc Maron). Stateside, Bowie is quickly met with an audience that’s not yet ready for him. During the tumultuous journey, Bowie slowly begins to realize a need to reinvent himself in order to truly become himself; it’s with that realization that his iconic, celestial alter-ego Ziggy Stardust is born.
THE OFFLINE PLAYLIST Minnesota Premiere
Director: Brian C. Miller Richard
Country: US, Running Time: 49 min
A first-of-its-kind concert that paired New Orleans artists on a Spotify playlist with the fans who were listening to it, live at the hallowed Preservation Hall. Staring Jon Batiste, Irma Thomas, Curren$y, Mannie Fresh, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more New Orleans legends.
UPROOTED: THE JOURNEY OF JAZZ DANCE Texas Premiere
Director: Khadifa Wong
Country: US, Running Time: 94 min
UPROOTED: THE JOURNEY OF JAZZ DANCE is a feature length documentary celebrating the history, lineage and future progressions of jazz dance. With a stellar cast of leading industry experts, award-winning choreographers and legendary performers. A ground-breaking documentary going back to the roots in Africa and following the evolution of this incredible dance form through every single decade and genre. Exploring and commenting on the political and social influences. UPROOTED is an honest conversation about jazz dance. We open up that conversation. We address topics such as appropriation, racism, socialism and sexism within Jazz Dance. It is a story of triumph over adversity, oppression and privilege as well as a celebration, because ultimately, what all people have in common is rhythm and a basic human need to get down.
Short Films
BASTILLE – ANOTHER PLACE Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Anna Radchenko
Country: UK, Running Time: 4 min
“Another Place” is a surrealist music video directed by Anna Radchenko & Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux for English alternative rock band Bastille, featuring Canadian singer, songwriter Alessia Cara. The video sees Bastille frontman Dan Smith as he struggles to keep his home from falling apart. All the while, a giant version of Alessia Cara looks through and taps on the windows sending shockwaves throughout the building. Another Place stands as an evocative representation of a person’s distress caused by a breakup, seeking to keep one’s inner sanctuary intact by shutting off painful memories trying to make their way in.
THE CLAW Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Lael Rogers
Country: US, Running Time: 9 min
The lead singer of a Seattle punk band struggles to keep it together when her performance anxiety takes an unexpected form.
EARTH ODYSSEY Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Adi Halfin
Country: Israel, Germany, USA, Japan, Holland, France, Running Time: 5 min
EARTH ODYSSEY was made by dancers from different continents filming themselves in their confinement with their personal phones and computers. It was made in the first week of April 2020 while almost 2 billion people around the globe were unable to move freely due to the restrictions imposed in an attempt to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.
FUCKING LONELY Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Kayla Arend
Country: China, Running Time: 4 min
“Fucking Lonely” is a music video for singer-songwriter Yi Tang. Made in the backcountry wilderness of Utah and Wyoming, this quirky yet very real music video expresses an emotion that can be felt universally.
I AM SAMANTHA Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: T Cooper
Country: US, Running Time: 5 min
I AM SAMANTHA, by singer-songwriter Benjamin Scheuer, was inspired by his friend, Samantha Williams. Director T Cooper and Allison Glock-Cooper gathered 27 trans actors to tell the story of the universal human journey to find identity, acceptance and love.
I TALK TO THE WIND Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Gaia Alari
Country: Italy, Running Time: 5 min
Following the dance of a plastic bag, flowers, hands and a crane, the video is a loop that conveys a lulling feeling of longing and transformation accompanying the lyrics of “I Talk to the Wind,” famous 1969 song by King Crimson, in this elegant and delicate version by indie folk singer songwriter Dana Gavanski.
IN THE SAME DIRECTION Minnesota Premiere
Director: Alexander Craven
Country: US, Running Time: 17 min
From the inception of a musical idea, through the recording process and live performance, this short documentary tells the story of Jeff Pifher and his band Socrates’ Trial and their idea of what jazz can be today.
JESSE JAMS Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Trevor Anderson
Country: Canada, Running Time: 16 min
A young Indigenous musician and his rock band bring mumblepunk to the Interstellar Rodeo. A rock ‘n’ roll survival story of a different stripe.
LANDGRAVES Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Jean-François Leblanc
Country: Canada, Running Time: 23 min
A young journalist goes into the deep wood to interview the heavy-metal duo LANDGRAVES, who records an album for the first time since a murder imprisonment. His curiosity pushes him to follow the band deep in the forest, as a snowstorm arises.
LITTLE BIG – GO BANANAS Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Alina Pasok
Country: Russian Federation, Running Time: 3 min
There is singing, dancing, and cake.
MADALITSO World Premiere
Director: Johan Nayer
Country: UK, Running Time: 12 min
Two ambitious street musicians from Africa visit the UK in a make or break tour. They perform at some of the UK’s most prestigious world music festivals, but also encounter some drama as Yosefe has an excruciating toothache. We get to hear some of their music and see how their Malawian Banjo music rocks the crowds.
MIND MENDING Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Markus Schröder
Country: UK, Running Time: 17 min
Filipe is only 36 when he suffers a stroke performing on stage with his heavy metal band. Believing that live music will help his recovery, and frustrated by his aphasia, a communication disorder brought on by stroke, Filipe attempts to reconnect with the world by visiting music festivals dressed as a bunny rabbit.
PARTYGEDDON Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Zak Kirwin
Country: US, Running Time: 8 min
A band of layabout punks throw a party to end all parties. When their neighbor summons a gang of demons to shut them up, all hell breaks loose.
PAYING THE FERRYMAN Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Alfonso “Cronopio” Moreno
Country: US, Spain, Running Time: 4 min
On his final journey, the ferryman presents an old punk rocker with one ultimate ordeal. Judgement, symbolized in the figure of his young daughter, is held hostage while he chases death in a nightmare run through a tunnel which transports him instantly from the land of the great lakes, to the Madrid of his youth. Shedding off the years and old age as he runs, he tries desperately to pass the trial and pay for the continuity of his child, before his own blood runs the last few drops of his existence through the hourglass of eternity.
POST 398 Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: David Drake
Country: UK, Running Time: 14 min
An underground jazz club in Harlem struggles to keep going after the death of its founder, Seleno Clarke.
POWERHOUSE Festival Premiere
Director: Tony Fulgham
Country: US, Running Time: 3 min
A music film for the single, “Powerhouse,” from Seattle band Thunderpussy. An ode to the singer’s mother, this film unfolds as a single mother becomes the woman she knows herself to be. It is an unravelling of sorts.
THE RETURN Texas Premiere
Director: Ryan Stopera
Country: US, Running Time: 21 min
After the global internet crash of 2040, the world fell into chaos. One corporation had the only remaining server, holding all the remaining technological data and power that came with it. Protests and conflict consumed our lives. Economies failed across the world, and the US government was forced to privatize under the control of this sole corporation. Under their rule, what was left of our rights were stripped. All wealth went to the oligarchs, and all art, music, and communication was banned. They knew our art was our connection to liberation; so they took it from us. The ruthless Jǐngchá hunted and imprisoned all who did not obey the law. Information was shared through a microchip that each citizen was given in a brain implant, which was used to send state propaganda messages, spreading lies and fear. The line between the outside world and the digital world was blurred, and our existence was an assembly line, void of vibrancy and culture. A few brave artists refused to stop creating and joined together to fight back.
RUBY’S SONG Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Walter Santucci
Country: US, Running Time: 2 min
An animated music video for the Detroit Illharmonic song of the same name, “Ruby’s Song” is a vaguely surreal, weirder than it actually seems love story between a disembodied mannequin head and a headless mannequin ending, of course, in tragedy.
SEE ME THRU World Premiere
Director: Dejha Ti, Ania Catherine
Country: US, Running Time: 4 min
Directed by and co-starring real-life married couple Dejha Ti and Ania Catherine, the video for SEE ME THRU showcases the nuances of two women in love and brings to life the song’s message about seeing a relationship through to reap the benefits of commitment.
THE SHAWL Minnesota Premiere
Director: Sara Kiener
Country: US, Running Time: 7 min
After years of long distance, a pair of big and beautiful boyfriends celebrate their reunion at a Stevie Nicks concert, where they share a brush with magic.
THE THINGS YOU THOUGHT – PHONOLUX World Premiere
Director: Buddy Calvo
Country: US, Running Time: 5
Teens stuck at home, apart due to quarantine, get together for a fun adventure.
TIRED EYES Minnesota & Texas Premiere
Director: Ryan Brown
Country: US, Running Time: 9 min
Nothing comes easy for this Brooklyn-based band trying to make it to the center of Manhattan in time for their gig.
WHERE MY GIRLS
Director: Mads Engel
Country: US, Running Time: 22 min
In the underground hip hop scene of New York, the old adage “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” rings true for many rappers seeking to make a name for themselves. But in a scene that struggles to stay genuine in the face of clout chasers and rising rents, making it has taken on a more ambiguous meaning. In this short documentary, three queer women reflect on the creativity, community, and hustle required to make it in a culture that has left them to their own devices.
