23 MAY — 02 JUNE 2024

23 MAY — 02 JUNE 2024

CAN and Me

Michael P. Aust, Tessa Knapp

Germany

2022, 85'

The life of Irmin Schmidt — founder of the mythical German krautrock band CAN, which includes an early career as a conductor and a connection to Karlheinz Stockhausen, and then countless compositions for film soundtracks (such as Palermo Shooting, by Wim Wenders) and an opera, Gormenghast — is told in an intimate and humorous way, filled with archival footage that illustrate his life, philosophy and the dynamics of the band.

Michael P. Aust and Tessa Knapp’s movie guides the viewer through the history of Can, the unavoidable German band within 20th century’s music, its vast influence extending from rock, to electronics, to all kinds of exploratory music. We look at said history armed with peculiar lenses, that is to say, through the eyes of keyboardist Irmin Schmidt. An intimate journey through the life of the musician, who is now 85 years old: the much present past of Germany, growing up with the Nazi ghost still so close, the musical training with Stockhausen and Ligeti, the counter-cultural liberation of the 1960s and 1970s, the work on soundtracks and the continued, renewed enthusiasm for electronic music in post-Can life. “Can and Me”, life portrait and musical biography, is an intimate and impressionistic journey into the creative heart of the band who signed “Future Days” and “Tago Mago”. (Mário Lopes)

IndieMusic

SCREENINGS

April 30, Sunday, 22:00 (85')

Cinema Ideal • C.180

May 02, Tuesday, 19:15 (85')

Cinema São Jorge, Room 3 • C.183

INFO

PREMIERE TYPE

National

ORIGINAL TITLE

CAN and Me

LANGUAGE

English / German

SUBTITLES

Portuguese / English

SCRIPT

Sarah Schygulla

EDITING

Henning Marquass

PRODUCER

Michael P. Aust

PRODUCTION

TelevisorTroika GmbH Köln

SHARE

SAME SECTION MOVIES

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

“Can I kick it?” is the question and song that most naturally come to mind when talking about A Tribe Called Quest. Recognized as the fathers of a whole new facet of hip hop, capable of capturing the form and culture of what it’s supposed to be, with party records with a social conscience. This documentary tells the story of the band — of their achievements, musical innovations and dramas — weaving a narrative that includes multiple voices.

Michael Rapaport

2011, 98'

CB4

CB4 refers to “cell block 4”, the prison environment that brought together the characters of this mockumentary about a totally fictional rap group, with Chris Rock as the lead, that satirizes without mercy aspects of gangsta rap the way This Is Spinal Tap satirizes the behavior of rock bands and the documentaries that idolized them. The film includes the parodic testimonies of Halle Berry, Eazy-E, Butthole Surfers, Ice-T, Ice Cube and Shaquille O’Neal.

1993, 89'

Even Hell has its Heroes

A documentary that is like the music of the band it focuses on, Earth: slow, poetic and immersive, eschewing the traditional music documentary structure in favour of an atmospheric exploration. The world’s slowest metal band, led by Dylan Carlson, reveals itself through the testimonies of a painful past — heroin use and a connection to Kurt Cobain’s death, a ghost that haunts the enterity of the film — becoming something if not triumphant, at least sublime.

2023, 110'

In the Court of the Crimson King

The band’s 50 years seen through the very present perspective of director Toby Amies who doesn’t just focus on Robert Fripp, the controlling (and controlled) and genius leader of the band who demands the same degree of dedication of the other members that he imposes on himself. The documentary revolves around issues such as time, death and the power of music and virtuosity, as well as fan dedication, without ever losing a sense of humour.

2022, 86'

In the shadow – Part 1

In the first half of a two-part documentary-in-diary-form, the director tackles the difficult task of accompanying the band Clã in the preparation of a new album, Véspera, following all the moments of rehearsals, recordings and post-production, including the integration of new members in the band. Complicity is the motto in this unveiling of the Porto sextet’s musical process.

2022, 114'

In the shadow – Part 2

In the second half of a two-part documentary-in-diary-form, we encounter the challenges that the band Clã faced around the release of the album Véspera, which was interrupted by the pandemic. A shift was needed in order to realign expectations and ways of working, managing, even then, to move forward with the recording of videos for the songs, photo sessions, until finally they returned to the stage for new concerts.

2023, 105'

Le Mali 70

A big band from Berlin, the Omniversal Earkestra project, discovers records by big bands from the Republic of Mali from the 1960s and 70s, when there was an explosive music scene right after the country’s independence. Fascinated by the sound — which combines Dogon, Wassalou or Tuareg traditions with Cuban influences — they embark on a journey to meet the veteran legends who originated the movement, such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Abdoulaye Diabaté or Salif Keita.

Markus C.M. Schmidt

, 94'

Little Richard: I Am Everything

Little Richard is everything, and maybe that was just too many things he could never fully reconcile. This documentary revisits the life of a man who was defined by the songs he created and that changed American rock’n’roll. But also by an internal struggle, throughout his life, between an irrepressible will to express himself, without being defined by his sexuality or the colour of his skin, and his religion.

2023, 98'

Miúcha, the Voice of Bossa Nova

Miúcha is a singer that breaks free, in this documentary, from the descriptions that reduce her to being the sister of Chico Buarque, wife of João Gilberto and collaborator of Vinicius de Moraes or Tom Jobim. Her contributions to the bossa nova movement are deepened and we follow how she navigated her marriage and tried to define her career. The film relies on personal archives that include photographs, letters, watercolors and audio recordings.

Liliane Mutti, Daniel Zarvos

Brazil / France / USA

2022, 98'

Scratch

The history of hip-hop in a documentary that goes back to the origins of a musical genre that started with DJs experimenting on vinyl and became much more than that. From the initial elements, through the introduction of MCs, the battles and the creation of beats, this is a new world created by unexpected virtuosos.

2001, 91'

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)

Anton Corbijn, known, among other works, for the film Control, about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, makes his documentary debut with a dive into the work of the design studio Hipgnosis — composed by the brilliant Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell —, responsible for the iconic album covers (huge productions, with no regard for costs) of everyone’s favourite bands in the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, among many others.

2022, 101'

Subotnick: Portrait of an Electronic Music Pioneer

“Subotnick” is the name of a Caribou song, but it is also Morton’s last name, the ninety-year-old composer and pioneer of electronic music best known for the album Silver Apples of the Moon (1967), which continues to be discovered by new generations decades later. Between old records, which explore his extensive career, and conversations in the first (and third) person, we meet a man guided by instinct (and by his arm).

Robert Fantinatto

2022, 87'

The Elephant 6 Recording Co.

It took the director 14 years to build, between interviews and archives, this homage to the music that came out of Athens, Georgia (USA), in the 1990s, where a bunch of friends and strangers with a passion for psychedelic rock came together to enjoy big houses and low rents and created influential bands full of joy and chaos like Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel or the Apples in Stereo.

C.B. Stockfleth

2022, 93'

Trip

In a totally literal sense Lilly Crieghtmore embarks on a very personal, and quite romantic, journey that takes her from the US to the UK and back via Iceland and Southern Africa. Her map is unconventional: it’s following psychedelic rock bands, The Black Angels Brian Jonestown Massacre, Sonic Boom ou Roky Erickson. The film is an intimate behind-the-scenes portrait of the bands she accompanies, which translates into an immersive experience of sounds, rhythms and conversations

Lilly Creightmore

2022, 73'