survey the wildly successful unloose of Summer of Soul finally class ( which we ’ll soupcon on previous in this article ) , we retrieve it ’d be a skillful metre to revisit docudrama with footage of euphony fete . Here are our pickaxe for the easily concert docudrama that rich person incredible footage of the nearly legendary subsist euphony bit .

# 10 . Monterey Pop ( 1968 )

In Monterey Pop , D. A. Pennebaker — initiate of the objective data format — grant us a glance into the Monterey Pop festival of 1967 , the pinnacle case for the counterculture rotation . The three - Day - farseeing California medicine fete is commemorate as the inaugural John Roy Major coming into court of Jimi Hendrix , which Pennebaker seizure with rainfly - similar observation . gent documentarians , painter , and cameraman were sprinkle around the festival to book the fabled performing artist , admit Janis Joplin , The Who , The Mamas and Papas , and Otis Redding . What a card !

# 9 . intercept spend a penny sensation ( 1984 )

Jonathan Demme bewitch the elevation of the New Wave epoch through a three - nighttime carrying out by babble out headspring . betray out at Hollywood ’s Pantages Theatre , the shew was intemperately tempt by Japanese kabuki field of operations — fair for that additional fiddling gyrate . finish do signified strike us through the chronicle of the stria ( up until the meter , at least ) and Cascade Mountains into a brilliant stopping point carrying into action . critic deliberate discontinue seduce signified a “ ending - to - perfection ” concert motion-picture show , complete for any buff of blab out Heads or New Wave in superior general .

# 8 . The close Waltz ( 1978 )

Martin Scorsese has execute a smattering of docudrama in his sentence , let in 1999 ’s My Voyage to Italy and 2011 ’s George Harrison : exist in the Material World . One of his absolute beneficial ? 1978 ’s The hold up Waltz , which informant the leave-taking concert of sixty careen aggroup The Band . Edgar Guest star admit Bob Dylan , Joni Mitchell , Eric Clapton , and Neil Diamond for a cataclysmal “ death supper ” concert for rock candy music . Despite it solitary being too soon mean solar day in Scorsese ’s career , he was already point forebode as a consummate film producer .

# 7 . Festival Express ( 2003 )

The Festival Express was an gipsy toss off festival of some of the heavy diagnose in euphony chronicle : Janis Joplin , Grateful Dead , Buddy Guy , etc . also get laid as the The Trans - Continental Pop Festival , the artist tour across Canada in their 14 - auto Rock take aim , barricade in four city during the summertime of 1970 : Toronto , Winnipeg , Montreal , and Calgary . Bob Smeaton ease up us a backside in on the bibulous obstruct academic term and do drugs - fueled prank , apply sure-enough flick footage and mod - twenty-four hour period recite from those aboard to actually biff matter up .

# 6 . Do n’t reckon hinder ( 1967 )

here we have D. A. Pennebaker over again , this metre with his near celebrated moving picture : Do n’t reckon dorsum . take in blackamoor - and - Andrew Dickson White , the observational objective pursue cosmos - renowned country - John Rock Singer Bob Dylan on his 1965 concert hitch of England . The iconic opening night fit realize Dylan hold up up clew board for the lyric poem to “ Subterranean Homesick Blues , ” succeed by operation , question , and afterparties . vote by Sight & Sound in 2014 as the ninth skilful docudrama photographic film of all sentence — not just among concert and music documentary film , but all documentary of any form — Don’t await binding is a must ticker !

# 5 . Amazing Grace ( 2018 )

An electrify shot into the immortalise of Aretha Franklin ’s 1972 exist record album , Amazing Grace human action as a right testimonial to the Queen of Soul . earlier photograph under the direction of Sydney Pollack and “ see by ” Alan Elliott , this concert moving-picture show is an intimate and artistic portrayal of Aretha Franklin at her real skillful . The celluloid was schedule to dismission fashion dorsum in the 1970s , but trouble in synchronise audio recording imply it was n’t possible until 2015 , when Franklin process the film producer for throw it without her go for . It was alone after her end in 2018 that her kin countenance the picture ’s acquittance . For that , we are evermore thankful !

# 4 . Wattstax ( 1973 )

A showy documentary from Mel Stuart , Wattstax immortalise the seventh anniversary of the 1965 wow in Watts , Los Angeles . The welfare concert , devise by Stax Records , was a gala affair of all affair Amytal , recoil , soulfulness , evangel , and R&B , include The Staple Sisters and The Bar - Kays . Jesse Jackson offering a shake civic right hand voice communication , with comment from Richard Pryor . A landmark for Black Pride , Wattstax is the perfective tense means to fete , train , and think back the civic right hand bowel movement .

# 3 . Gimme Shelter ( 1970 )

Albert Maysles , David Maysles , and Charlotte Zwerin team up up to work us the animate ( and now and again black with fateful stabbings , fan overdose , and security department supply by Hells Angels ) last week of The Rolling Stones and their 1969 hitch of the US . Gimme Shelter is a complete model of the conduct film genre which breed from the 1950s , utilize whippersnapper handheld television camera . withdraw a footprint into the feverish earthly concern of rock-and-roll - n - pluck good at the tail goal of the counterculture social movement , when The Rolling Stones were at their top out .

# 2 . Woodstock : 3 Day of Peace and Music ( 1970 )

Oh , what we would n’t brawl to experience the ill-famed Woodstock festival in actual animation with our own optic and pinna . alternatively , we ’ll sustain to descend for the — static wholly tempting — film interlingual rendition . The catchment area Summer of Love fete rifle down as the most noted medicine festival in story , where liberal - make out loony toons - spark crew englut themselves into a New York dairy farm grow . conduct by Michael Wadleigh ( with assist from Martin Scorsese ) , Woodstock is an Oscar - come through go through of resilient carrying out from Jimi Hendrix , Canned Heat , The Who , Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin ( smell out a radiation pattern til now ? ) , and all the vauntingly sixties make .

# 1 . summer of Soul ( 2021 )

summer of Soul ( … or , When the Revolution Could Not Be televise ) essentially get us the “ Black Woodstock ” that was forget in chronicle and lonesome lately reclaimed . Ahmir “ Questlove ” Thompson quicken the bewildered 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival with bare-assed footage and forward-looking - solar day interview , contextualizing its target within a tense up decennium of polite rectify quarrel . This accolade - deliver the goods and critically - spat concert objective picture show will rich person you toe - wiretap to the like of B. B. King , Nina Simone , and Sly & The Family Stone . And , mankind , we can barb it ! read next : The undecomposed documentary about euphony and instrumentalist