Come As You Are
Come As You Are is a season of concert films that looks to celebrate the concert as an event not just dedicated to showcasing great music, but also as the opportunity of bringing people together.
For the in-person screenings taking place at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton we take a look at two US examples of this phenomenon through two classics of the concert film genre; Wattstax and Woodstock. However, for our online screenings, we wanted to take a look at examples of this that are closer to home.
Within this selection is a mix of archival documentary shorts that showcase a small array of what Britain has to offer. In honour of our Brixton home for our in-person screenings we have two documentary shorts that capture the punk era right in its epicentre, before heading across London to the Notting Hill Carnival 1980 to join their celebrations.
Accompanying these will be some archival footage of the early years of The Rolling Stones live in Belfast, kindly made available by the Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Archive.
Sam Elder, Film Curator
Twitter: @C0MEASY0U_ARE
Instagram: @comeasyouare_film
- Sunday 23rd October | Wattstax | Ritzy Cinema | 5.30 pm
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WATTSTAX
Before Summer of Soul there was Wattstax; the searing documentary of Los Angeles’ own Black Woodstock, playing here at the Ritzy for the concert's 50th anniversary. In 1972, 7 years on from the Watts uprisings of 1965, the Stax record label, complete with their roster of artists including Isaac Hayes and Carla Thomas, took over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to put on show that sought to define Black American culture. More than just a concert, Wattstax is a cry of resistance against marginalisation, taking you from the stage and out on to streets, mixing the concert footage with reportage from the Watts residents themselves, bringing to light the living conditions they faced and that still persist today.
This screening will be followed by an after-party Upstairs at the Ritzy featuring Pure Vinyl plus special guests.
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- Sunday 30th October | Woodstock | Ritzy Cinema | 1 pm
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WOODSTOCK
August, 1969. 400,000 concert goers descend on Bethel, New York for three days of peace, love and music. What resulted was the music event of the century, captured in epic scale by Michael Wadleigh in his ground-breaking concert documentary Woodstock. Filled to the brim with the musicians who made up the legendary line-up featuring Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, The Who and many, many more. Both intimate and expansive, Wadleigh’s documentary leaves no stone of the festival unturned; from the moment the stage was built, to the rubble left in the concert’s wake. If you missed it the first time (and let’s face it, you probably did), this is the next best thing.