Jim Jarmusch

For over 70 years, Jonas Mekas, internationally known as the "godfather" of avant-garde cinema, documented his life in what came to be known as his diary films. From his arrival in New York City as a displaced person in 1949 to his death in 2019, he chronicled the trauma and loss of exile while pioneering institutions to support the growth of independent film in the United States. Fragments of Paradise is an intimate look at his life and work constructed from thousands of hours of his own video and film diaries-including never-before-seen tapes and unpublished audio recordings. It is a story about finding beauty amidst profound loss, and a man who tried to make sense of it all... with a camera.

Born with a silver spoon, Jonathan Shaw chose, at the height of his career as a tattoo artist, to give up on his celebrity lifestyle in order to escape from his own vicious cycle.

‘The Raconteurs: Live at Electric Lady’ is a documentary and concert film showcasing the day, including their explosive 7-song live performance, the recording of “Blank Generation” (a cover of The Voidoids song originally recorded at Electric Lady), and a conversation with Jim Jarmusch.

Recorded at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in February 2023, this “cine-concert” captures the avant-rock band SQÜRL performing a semi- improvised score to Man Ray’s films.

"Shortly after Amos went into home hospice he began filming ‘Adios’, a short film, compiled of 16mm and Super 8 footage, to premiere at his memorial, chronicling all the family and friends who have come to visit. Even Courtney our absolutely wonderful hospice nurse is in it. […] Only twice have we forgotten to film a visitor. Amos designated me the Director of Photography. Since I have to focus and shoot using my bad left eye the joke in our home is that it’s a film by a dying director and a blind DP." – Claudia Summers

From the 1950s onwards, Erika and Ulrich Gregor brought countless film historical milestones to Berlin and shaped cinema discourse in post-war Germany. A look at the life and work of the couple without whom Arsenal and the Forum wouldn’t exist.

In the heart of the Finnish forest, the long-closed foundry of the little town of Karkkila has come back to life thanks to director Aki Kaurismäki and his creation of the town's first cinema. The peace and calm of the little town of Karkkila, nestled deep in the Finnish forest, is interrupted by unexpected sounds. In the abandoned foundry, noisy building work is taking place. Inside the building, Aki Kaurismäki is both builder and site manager of what is soon to become the Kino Laika cinema. The creation of the cinema is the talk of the town. In the factory still in activity, in a 1960s Cadillac, in a bikers' club, in the local pub, in the woods or in Aki Kaurismäki's former editing room, people start talking about cinema again.

Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch talks at length about his journey from Akron, Ohio to Cannes, France, via punk-rock period New York in the late seventies. He recounts how his first film “Permanent Vacation” (1980) was made and how the singular chain of circumstances, friends and collaborators created "Stranger Than Paradise" (1984), “Down By Law” (1986), “Mystery Train” (1989), “Night On Earth” (1991), “Dead Man” (1995), “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” (1999), "Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003) and "Broken Flowers" (2005).

In his new film, Spirit of Golf, photographer and documentary filmmaker Christopher Felver traces his personal 20-year odyssey in search of the essence of the “auld Scots game.” Inspired by Michael Murphy’s book, Golf in the Kingdom, he travels to many of golf’s historic, fabled courses: St Andrews, Pebble Beach, Augusta National, among others. He interviews many of the game’s great champions and more than a few colorful characters, who are asked the question, “What is the spirit of golf?” We hear from Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, the wonderfully unique Moe Norman, Kathy Whitworth and Nancy Lopez, and notable teachers such as David Leadbetter, “Butch” Harmon and commentators Herbert Warren Wind, Jack Whitaker, and Jim Nantz. All the answers are marvelously diverse, funny, and poetic… just like the game itself.

No other band in rock'n'roll history has rivaled The Stooges' combination of heavy primal throb, spiked psychedelia, blues-a-billy grind, complete with succinct angst-ridden lyrics, and a snarling, preening leopard of a frontman who somehow embodies Nijinsky, Bruce Lee, Harpo Marx, and Arthur Rimbaud all rolled into one. There is no precedent for The Stooges, while those inspired by them are now legion. The film will present the context of their emergence musically, culturally, politically, historically, and relate their adventures and misadventures while charting their inspirations and the reasons behind their initial commercial challenges, as well as their long-lasting legacy.

In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood.

1980s New York was a very different place to the bustling cosmopolitan tourist magnet we know now, and the neighborhood that housed the Ravenite Social Club was a far cry from the gentrified boutique strip that exists today. Yet this series of interviews with the then-young artist clique who lived alongside one of the most prolific mafia networks offers a vivid insight into a city's colorful past.

The evolution of the depiction of the various Native American peoples in cinema, from the silent era to the present day: how their image on the screen has changed the way to understand their history and culture.

For her extraordinary film essay, Living the Light, Director and Director of Photography Claire Pijman had access to the thousands of Hi8 video diaries, pictures and Polaroids that Müller photographed while he was at work on one of the more than 70 features he shot throughout his career; often with long term collaborators such as Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch and Lars von Trier. The film intertwines these images with excerpts of his oeuvre, thus creating a fluid and cinematic continuum. In his score for Living the Light Jim Jarmusch gives this wide raging scale of life and art an additional musical voice.

Nick Koenig, aka Hot Sugar, is in a hot mess. Considered a modern-day Mozart, the young electronic musician/producer records sounds from everyday life—from hanging up payphone receivers to Hurricane Sandy rain—and chops, loops and samples them into Grammy Award–nominated beats. He’s living the life every musician dreams of, complete with an internet-phenom girlfriend, rapper/singer “Kitty.” But when she dumps him, Hot Sugar is set adrift. Fleeing to Paris, he tries to regroup, searching for new sounds and a sense of self. Filmmaker Adam Lough mixes scenes of Hot Sugar at work on his vintage recording devices with surprising soul-searching reflections he offers to the camera. As tweets and posts about the broken couple blow up on the internet, Hot Sugar’s road trip presses onward, revealing even more exotic layers of the man and his music. Fun and flash, this lyrical journey offers audiences a fascinating peek into a modern artist’s creative process.

Jay Z performs Picasso Baby at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

A portrait of the American director Jim J. at work on the set of his latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive.

25 years ago, Louis Sarno, an American, heard a song on the radio and followed its melody into the Central Africa Jungle and stayed. He than recorded over 1000 hours of original BaAka music. Now he is part of the BaAka community and raises his pygmy son, Samedi. Fulfilling an old promise, Louis takes Samedi to America. On this journey Louis realizes he is not part of this globalized world anymore but globalization has also arrived in the rainforest. The BaAka depend on Louis for their survival. Father and son return to the melodies of the jungle but the question remains: How much longer will the songs of the forest be heard?

Exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and '80s shaped his vision.

When Howard Brookner lost his life to AIDS in 1989, the 35-year-old director had completed two feature documentaries and was in post-production on his narrative debut, Bloodhounds of Broadway. Twenty-five years later, his nephew, Aaron, sets out on a quest to find the lost negative of Burroughs: The Movie, his uncle's critically-acclaimed portrait of legendary author William S. Burroughs. When Aaron uncovers Howard's extensive archive in Burroughs’ bunker, it not only revives the film for a new generation, but also opens a vibrant window on New York City’s creative culture from the 1970s and ‘80s, and inspires a wide-ranging exploration of his beloved uncle's legacy.

Live performance by Iggy and the Stooges in tribute to their former guitarist Ron Asheton. Recorded at the Michigan Theater in 2011, the band plays a selection of songs from throughout their career including 'Search and Destroy', 'Gimme Danger', 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' and 'No Fun'.

Once the centre of the New York bohemia, Greenwich Village is now home to lux restaurants, and buzzer door clothing stores catering to the nouveau riche. But one shop in the heart of the Village remains resilient to the encroaching gentrification: Carmine Street Guitars. There, custom guitar maker Rick Kelly and his young apprentice Cindy Hulej, build handcrafted guitars out of reclaimed wood from old hotels, bars, churches and other local buildings. Nothing looks or sounds quite like a Rick Kelly guitar, which is the reason they are embraced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, just to name a few. Featuring a cast of prominent musicians and artists, the film captures five days in the life of Carmine Street Guitars, while examining an all-too-quickly vanishing way of life.

"Behind Jim Jarmusch" is an intimate an intriguing portrait of director Jim Jarmusch, at work on the set of his movie "The Limits of Control" (starring Isaach de Bankolé, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt...)

Documentary about director/artist Nicholas Ray and his time as a University professor

As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.

A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.

The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters.

Documentary covering The Ramones' long and eventful history, with footage from their final ever show at the Palace in Hollywood, 6th August 1996. Interviews with Joey, Johnny and drummer Marky, tributes from other rock icons including Richard Hell, Debbie Harry and Lemmy.

An East Village performance space fought against the Bowery homeless shelter who threatened to shut them down. Some of the most iconic figures in music have performed here.

A portrait of Rockets Redglare, the morbidly obese fixture of New York's underground until his death in 2001. Rockets was the sometimes bodyguard/drug dealer of Sid Vicious and Jean Michel Basquiat, as well as a talented stand-up comic and character actor who left his indelible mark wherever he went. This film chronicles Rockets' last days, hunting for methadone in Puerto Rico and telling stories from his past.

The film icon/Andy Warhol darling is interviewed is his legendary cluttered apartment.

From London's 1970 mod scene to Sonic Youth, punk music has always been about attitude and anarchy. This comprehensive rockumentary traces the roots of punk, from The Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

A documentary about the making of Jim Jarmusch's 1999 film GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI, including interviews with the director and stars Forest Whitaker and RZA.

Portrait of an important American musician through the testimonies of fellow musicians and people from his environment, but also through archival material and documents from various stages of his life and career.

A short behind-the-scenes documentary shot and edited on Super 8 by filmmaker Tom Jarmusch, director Jim Jarmusch’s brother, during the filming of STRANGER THAN PARADISE.

the connections and energy flow between the various artists populating the 1980s sub-cultures of New York and Berlin. Features Jim Jarmusch, Lydia Lunch, Blixa Bargeld, Alex Hacke, Gudrun Gut, Nick Cave, and others. An important film. Bravo, Mr. Dreher.

An examination of Charles Chaplin's final starring film.

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

A wacky group of locals visit the neighborhood cigar shop, looking for good times and finding plenty of hilarious fun. But when the greedy owner threatens to close the shop for good and turn it into a trendy vegetarian restaurant, the neighborhood proves they'll do just about anything to save their favorite hangout.

Film producer Sy Lerner makes a bet with a fellow film executive that he can turn any nobody into a star at the Cannes Film Festival. A New York cab driver who is visiting the festival is chosen as the test subject to settle the bet and Sy uses his skills of hype and manipulation to try and turn the cab driver named Frank into the talk of the town. Many celebrities make cameos throughout the film.

An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.

A documentary on the career of filmmaker John Waters. Featuring interviews with actors and fellow film-makers. The life and death of the actor Divine is also discussed.

A document of Neil Young and Crazy Horse's 1996 concert tour. Director Jarmusch conducts interviews about the band's long history, interspersed with backstage footage from the 1970s and 1980s.

John Boorman met Lee Marvin in London when the latter was making The Dirty Dozen and immediately they struck up a friendship. Shortly afterwards they made two films together, the first of which was Point Blank, during which Boorman found that he learnt a lot about screen acting and how to direct from the contributions and support from Marvin. Later they worked together on Hell in the Pacific. With his friendship providing an insightful collection of memories of Marvin, Boorman leads this intimate documentary on the life of Lee Marvin.

In a documentary about Samuel Fuller, the spectator gets different impressions about the Hollywood director and his films. The film is divided into the three sections: The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera. The first segment covers Fuller's past as a newsman where he began as a copy boy and ended as a reporter. Part two describes Fuller's experiences in World War II, in which he participated as a soldier. The last section focuses on Fuller as director. Tim Robbins interviews Samuel Fuller revealing the director's own memories and impressions. Beside the interview, Jim Jarmusch, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino accompany the documentary with their comments.

A Paul Joyce documentary on the American independent film scene.

Bad Trip, a biker who has been freshly inducted into a gang, flees from them after stealing one of their bikes.

In 1993, Sam Fuller takes Jim Jarmusch on a trip into Brazil's Mato Grosso, up the River Araguaia to the village of Santa Isabel Do Morro, where 40 years before, Zanuck had sent Fuller to scout a location and write a script for a movie based on a tigrero, a jaguar hunter. Sam hopes to find people who remember him, and he takes film he shot in 1954. He's Rip Van Winkle, and, indeed, a great deal changed in the village. There are televisions, watches, and brick houses. But, the same Karajá culture awaits as well. He gathers the villagers to show his old film footage, and people recognize friends and relatives, thanking Fuller for momentarily bringing them back to life.

Inspired in form by American police TV shows and soap operas, The Golden Boat is a madcap, surreal dash through the streets of New York city, telling the mysterious and often hilarious story of an aged street-person named Austin, a comically compulsive assassin, as he joins up with a young rock critic and philosophy student named Israel Williams. In the course of their adventures, Austin pursues his object of desire - a Mexican soap opera star - and along the way engages a host of TV characters and bit players, whose repartee range from gangsterish insults to the question of God's existence.

R.I.P Rest in Pieces is an intimate portrait of artist Joe Coleman, who is known around the world as a shamanic, moral voice diagnosing the ills of 21st century America. Coleman holds nothing back, telling us of a world wracked with tumorous cities, perversion, divorce, violence, atomic bombs, and a human race destroying itself simply because we are born.

The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Siberian musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed by the village idiot, who wishes to join the band.

A gang of bank robbers with a suitcase full of money go to the desert to hide out. After burying the loot, they find their way to a surreal town full of cowboys who drink an awful lot of coffee.

A mediocre musician goes on the road in search of the world's greatest guitar maker.

A Finnish taxi driver in Berlin gets in over his head when he accepts a fare from two men with briefcases full of money stolen from ruthless gangsters.

Recorded live at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, Roy is joined by an eclectic ensemble of rock and roll superstars including Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett, J.D. Souther, Jennifer Warnes, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits.

Director 'Nicholas Ray' is eager to complete a final film before his imminent death from cancer. Wim Wenders is working on his own film Hammett (1983) in Hollywood, but flies to New York to help Ray realize his final wish. Ray's original intent is to make a fiction film about a dying painter who sails to China to find a cure for his disease. He and Wenders discuss this idea, but it is obviously unrealistic given Ray's state of health.

Nan Goldin's slide show “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” converted, mixed and screened as a film by the artist, portraying the American underground culture, the no wave scene, post-Stonewall gay subculture, among others.

Berlin Underground-star Ulrike S. went to the Toronto-Filmfestival and then to New York - to find out something about the film business and also about her own desires, daydreams and nightmares.

A German journalist on the run from mobsters in New York embarks on a road trip across the United States, picking up a female auto mechanic on the run, before his past catches up with him. Shot in 16mm by Egyptian-born director Degas using local crews, a mix of professional and amateur performers, and rural landscapes as a backdrop, this lesser-known No Wave feature comes from a school of New York independent filmmaking inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders.

In this ostensible murder mystery, the genre elements are merely a pretext for the series of haunting (if inconclusive and only mildly erotic) homo-social encounters he stages. Starting with the familiar premise of the absent woman, so popular with Downtown filmmakers, Vogl drains his storytelling of any hints of noir stylization. Instead of nighttime scenes, slick streets, and dark alleys, he shoots documentary-style on the nondescript, sunlit streets of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and City Island in a manner that casually references the art-film angst of Michelangelo Antonioni.