Acting

Michael Gira

Born 1954-02-19 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Michael Rolfe Gira is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronts Angels of Light. He is also the founder of Young God Records.

Acting credits

Kill Your Idols poster
7.4

A 2004 documentary on thirty years of alternative rock 'n roll in NYC.Documenting the history from the genuine authenticity of No Wave to the current generation of would be icons and true innovators seeing to represent New York City in the 21st century

Kill Your Idols

2004

Swans: A Long Slow Screw. poster
8.7

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

Swans: A Long Slow Screw.

1986

Swans - To Be Kind Live poster
10.0

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)

Swans - To Be Kind Live

2014

Swans: Where Does a Body End? poster
7.9

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: Where Does a Body End?

2019

Kings of Independence poster
NR

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.

Kings of Independence

1987

Swans: Nox Orae 2023 poster
NR

Filmed on Saturday, August 26, 2023 during the 13th edition of the NOX ORAE festival in La Tour-de-Peilz (Switzerland).

Swans: Nox Orae 2023

2024

NYC Foetus poster
6.0

A documentary about composer/producer/performer JG Thirlwell and his musical alter-egos, including Foetus, Steroid Maximus and Manorexia. Featuring interviews with Thirlwell, Matt Johnson (The The), Alex Hacke (Neubauten), Michael Gira (Swans), Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch and more.

NYC Foetus

2009

Swans: The Seer - Live poster
9.0

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)

Swans: The Seer - Live

2012

Swans: The Glowing Man - Live 2015 poster
10.0

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

Swans: The Glowing Man - Live 2015

2016

Parallel Planes poster
6.0

'Parallel Planes' is a documentary film portraying 12 American avant-garde & punk-rock musicians. It is a journey between genres, an essay on free thinking and an intimate look at how 12 critical players relate to the potential of music.

Parallel Planes

2017

Swans: (Rope) The Beggar (Live 2024) poster
NR

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

Swans: (Rope) The Beggar (Live 2024)

2025

Swans: Moers Festival 2017 poster
NR

Festivalhalle Moers, Moers, Germany

Swans: Moers Festival 2017

2017

Swans: The Seer Documentary poster
NR

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

Swans: The Seer Documentary

2012

No artwork available
7.8

A full-length feature documentary produced in 2006 which serves as a companion piece to and is included on the DVD of the 2004 film KILL YOUR IDOLS.

Kill Your Idols: More.

2006

Swans: Open'er Festival, Gdynia poster
NR

7/3/2015 Poland

Swans: Open'er Festival, Gdynia

2015

No artwork available
6.5

For over 30 years, Martin Bisi has been recording music from his studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn. He has worked with many influential musicians, including Sonic Youth, Swans, Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno and the Dresden Dolls. Now though, he finds himself squeezed in by the approaching gentrification of his neighborhood.

Sound and Chaos: The Story of BC Studio

2014

Swans: Live at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta poster
NR

Swans live at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia January 29th, 1997 Rare pro-shot video of the band's 1997 tour. Not Alone, Hypogirl

Swans: Live at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta

1997

Swans - Primavera Sound 2013 Live poster
10.0

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

Swans - Primavera Sound 2013 Live

2013

Swans: To Be Kind - Live 2013 poster
NR

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

Swans: To Be Kind - Live 2013

2014

Swans: Swans Are Dead (Amsterdam) poster
NR

This performance is (most of) what was used for the legendary Swans Are Dead live album. This specific version is from a tape of the VPRO broadcast of the concert.

Swans: Swans Are Dead (Amsterdam)

1997

Michael Gira: I Wonder If I’m Singing What You’re Thinking Me to Sing (Live Solo 2022) poster
NR

Michael Gira performing live and solo in 2022.

Michael Gira: I Wonder If I’m Singing What You’re Thinking Me to Sing (Live Solo 2022)

2025

Behind the camera