The Magic of Spirituals

Luca lost her family in the Great East Japan Earthquake causing her not to be able to speak. However, her singing voice shakes the hearts of those who listen to her. It is a hymn of compassion played by Luca and the people.

In this brand new featurette, executive producer T Bone Burnett and the Coen brothers discuss the history of some of the songs that heard in Inside Llywin Davies and possible origin of the stories they tells, the folk movement during the 1960s and the social and cultural ideas that it represented, the authenticity and the identity of folk music and the balance between the two, the future of folk music, etc. Included with the featurette are illustrations by Drew Christie. The featurette was created exclusively for Criterion in 2015.

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

A visual album by American singer Frank Ocean serenades the construction of a spiraling “staircase to heaven” inside a warehouse.

Three young prodigies and their families exploring the popular and competitive world of piano playing in China.

"A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions," says composer R. Murray Schafer. "When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous." David New's portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers (and listeners) with a singular moment of interactive subjectivity. This film was produced for the 2009 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.

Leading thinkers in music, philosophy, astronomy and physics explore music’s universal yet mysterious power to elicit ecstasy, following famed Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s imaginative theory of its spiritual (or demonic) origins.

There is a rumor in the Kyiv musical community: once upon a time, in private conversation, Queen Elizabeth II mentioned Valentyn Silvestrov as one of her favorite composers of the modern age. The Royal Press Office hasn’t confirmed it, so no one knows for sure. But the stature of Silvestrov justifies this rumor. Highly respected by the world’s best music professionals, he remains a mystery for a wide audience. The documentary is far from a traditional biopic about a prominent person. It is an observation, a confession and, most of all, a story of great talent set against the backdrop of uncertain times.

"Legion of the Black" tells the visual story of the Black Veil Brides album "Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones." The film follows a group of rebels known as "The Wild Ones" as they defend their hearts, minds and bodies against F.E.A.R., a futuristic new world order determined to capture and imprison the rebellious clan living in a survivalist desert camp.

Containing never-before-seen footage spanning 20 years, this monumental documentary tells the definitive story of the rise and fall of Chinese freestyle battle rap.