Amazing Grace (2018)

Aretha Franklin, one of the greatest gospel musicians to have ever lived, was the main star of this film. The movie was originally directed by Sydney Pollack in 1972 but was not released as planned because it faced technical difficulty of audio and visual synchronization so it had to lay still in a Warner Bros vault until 2007 when producer Alan Elliot acquired the footage and made an attempt to correct the synchronization issues. The movie was then released in 2018 after her death based on an arrangement with her family to release the film. Other actors in this film excluding Aretha Franklin are her father, C.L Franklin, James Cleveland, Charlie Watts, Alan Elliot, Clara Ward, Sydney Pollack and others.

Tina (2021)

Tina Turner, the American-born singer, songwriter and actress, who is also known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” takes the lead role in this film as it is centered around her life and career. It is directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J Martin. It was released by Altitude Film Distribution in the United Kingdom on the 28th of March 2021 an in the US by HBO on the 27th of March 2021. Other actors in this documentary film include Oprah Winfrey, Carl Arrington, Roger Davies, Katori Hall, Terry Britten and Jimmy Thomas amongst others.

Miss Americana (2020)

This award-winning film is centered around the life and career of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Netflix released it in theatres on the 31st of January 2020. This documentary film ‘Miss Americana’ was directed by Lana Wilson and earned its title from Taylor Swift’s protest song in 2019 titled “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”. Other cast in the film include Taylor Swift’s mother Andrea Swift, her father Scott Swift, her boyfriend Joe Alwyn, her manager Robert G. Allen, her friend Abigail Anderson Lucier amongst others.

Amy (2015)

Amy Winehouse’s life and career along with the struggles she had with substance abuse is revealed in this film, the film also covers the low levels and peak of the British singer-songwriter’s career and also reveals how her struggle with substance abuse eventually caused her untimely demise. This award-winning film was produced by James Gay-Rees and directed by Asif Kapadia.

Beyoncé: Homecoming (2019)

This rich concert film was written and produced by Grammy award-winning Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and was directed by Beyoncé too alongside Ed Burke. This film is centered around her performance at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and was released by Netflix on the 17th of April 2019. The film won Best Music Documentary in 2019 at the  IDA Documentary Awards and Best Music Film at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Other actors include her husband Jay-Z, her daughter Blue Ivy, her sister Solange Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and Les twins.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)

This documentary is about a Canadian heavy-metal band called Anvil whose members consist of Steve “Lips” Kudlow, Chris Robertson and Robb Reiner. The film highlights the struggles their career had to face including financial crisis, before it later picked up and blossomed. The film was directed by Sacha Gervasi and was released on the 18th of January, 2008. Other actors in the film are Slash, Lemmy, Scott Ian, Michael Schenker, Tommy Aldridge, Jay Jay French, Rob Reiner and a couple of others.

Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017)

This film is a revealing documentary about Lady Gaga, an American singer-songwriter and the events that took place following the production and release of her fifth studio album titled Joanne and her halftime performance at Super Bowl LI. The film won a couple of awards like Best Music Documentary in 20a8 by MTV Movie & TV Awards and Best Music Film in 2018 by NME Awards and was also nominated for other awards. It was directed by  Chris Moukarbel, and was released worldwide on the 22nd of September 2017. Other cast in this film are Lady Gaga’s grandmother Angelina Calderone Germanotta, her father Joe Germanotta, her mother Cynthia Germanotta, her sister Natali Germanotta, her friend Sonja Durham, her manager Bobby Campbell and others.

Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense (1984)

This concert film is about the American rock band Talking Heads, it is universally acknowledged and tagged as one of the best concert films/music documentaries of all time. It was directed by Jonathan Demme and in 1984, it won the award for best non-fiction film by the National Society of Film Critics. The entire film was shot within the course of four concert nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre and made use of 24-track digital sound (this is the first film that was made by using digital audio techniques entirely). Other appearances in the film apart from the Talking Heads band are Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry, Ednah Holt, Alex Weir and Bernie Worrell.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005)

This 2005 documentary film was produced by Henry S. Rosenthal and directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, it is about American musician Daniel Johnston’s life right from infancy up till adulthood. This film highlights his encounter with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and how it made itself evident by making him a demonized self-obsessing person. The film won the Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. Other cast in the movie are Jad Fair, Bill Johnston, Kathy McCarty, Louis Black, Laurie Allen, Thurston Moore, David Fair amongst others.

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

This documentary film gives insight into the life of American singer, songwriter and musician Nina Simone, along with the struggles of her abusive marriage, notorious bipolar volatility, pill addiction and civil rights activism. The film was directed by Liz Garbus and executive produced by her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly together with Adam Del Deo, Sidney Beaumont, and Jon Kamen. It served as the opening of the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and was officially released by Netflix on the 26th of June, 2015.

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