A simple story of a country lad who comes to the city to look for work, takes some knocks while adjusting to city life, but comes out on top when his singing talent is discovered. In 1949, two expatriate Britishers, producer Eric Rutherford and director Donald Swanson, made African Jim. It is a simple story of a country lad who comes to the city to look for work, takes some knocks while adjusting to city life, but comes out on top when his singing...

The Elvis phenomenon has its roots in his birthplace where Presley began a musical journey that would take him from the wrong side of the tracks in Tupelo through Memphis to worldwide iconic status. Interviews, recordings, photographs and rare home movies reveal the influences that would inspire both his music and personality, capturing a portrait of America on the cusp of radical social change.

A documentary of the Vietnamese band Dai Lam Linh, which has created "a unique form of popular music, which is both international in outlook and rooted in Vietnamese traditions and aesthetics." The group has faced numerous challenges owing to the disfavor of state-run organizations and Vietnamese censors to their experimental style.

Violeta went to heaven tells the story of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra, tracing her evolution from impoverished child to international sensation and Chile's national hero, while capturing the swirling intensity of her inner contradictions, fallibilities, and passions. From the marquee that she built in Santiago, Chile, Violeta Parra is visited by people who shaped her life. We gradually find out her secrets, fears, frustrations...

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, filmmaker, and director/choreographer. This tape includes interviews and excerpts from performance. A pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance," Ms. Monk has created more than 80 works of music, theater, dance, and film. A recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, she has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major force in the performing arts. "When...

Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903-October 14, 1977) was, without doubt, the most popular and influential multi-media star of the first half of the 20th century. For more than three decades, through radio, film, television and records, he reigned supreme. Bing Crosby Rediscovered, explores the life and legend of this iconic performer, revealing a man far more complex than his public persona.Crosby's estate, HLC Properties, Ltd., granted American Masters unprecedented...

This smash hit, which captures the East German 70's style in its gritty-glitzy visuals and its catchy soundtrack, is ranked by film critics among the 100 most significant German films of all time. Sunny (Renate Krössner, Go for Zucker), an aspiring singer, longs for fulfillment and to be recognized as someone special. She gets kicked out of her band, but starts over in the "underground" scene of East Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg. Based on a true story,...

Stylish and sophisticated, the film follows vocalist Toni LeBrun (Corinne Griffith), who leaves her family's bakery for Budapest to become an opera singer,unaware that she has contracted to perform as a chorus dancer at the Palais de Paris, a cabaret run by the decadent and delightfully menacing Madame Bauer (Maude George). Toni soon escapes to Monte Carlo with the cabaret's seamstress, Rosa (Louise Dresser), after warding off the wily cabaret patron,...