This year Doc'n Roll brought over 110 screenings of innovative music documentaries to 14 cities in the UK, thanks not only to the musicians and the filmmakers who told their stories, but also to Doc'n Roll's hard-working team of local producers who worked to bring cinemas, films and fans together for the ninth, biggest and best-yet Doc'n Roll.
As Doc'n Roll 2022 came to a close, we asked our producers to give us a firsthand account of what went down in each of their Doc'n Roll cities.
Below, they've told us about the unique, innovative docs they screened, the cinemas that hosted them, and Doc'n Roll's enthusiastic local teams; about the afterparties, the Q&As and one-off events; and above all about the audiences who came out to watch, listen, talk (and talk!) and celebrate music scenes, music-makers and filmmakers.
Our producers are also keen to big up all the support they received from the people in a grassroots network of local media outlets, venues, record stories and more who championed Doc'n Roll's doc lineups.
And what about our producers' own personal favourite films from Doc'n Roll 2022's lineup? That's definitely a tough call, they told us... but read on to find out what inspired them, brought them to tears or blew them away.
NOTTINGHAM: Mark McIntyre and Marcus Duffield
Socials:
@MarkMc4 (Twitter) @MarcusDuffield
Cinemas:
Broadway, Mammoth: A Climate Action Cinema, plus a pop-up evening in The Old Bus Depot
Docs:
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande; This is National Wake; Lee Fields; Faithful Man; Energy: A Documentary About Damo Suzuki; TRAMPS! The Death of Punk, The New Romantics, the Art of Survival; A Film about Studio Electrophonique; Age of Rage: The Australian Punk Revolution
Fave doc of the fest:
“This is National Wake. I remember some of the archive footage of Soweto from when it was first shown on the news. Fantastic music and a story I knew nothing about.” – Mark
“A Film about Studio Electrophonique: A great story about how a true amateur (not in a bad way) quietly helped some of the best bands of the 1980s during their early days in Sheffield.” – Marcus
Fave moment of the fest:
A couple of post-Q&A bar discussions with Michelle Heighway (director, Energy) and with Kevin Hegge (director, Tramps). Also having the first films ever shown in The Old Bus Depot.
Shout-outs:
All the staff at Broadway – every one of them was helpful and professional and supportive. Will and Trish and Ian and Christine at The Old Bus Depot, who created an amazing ambience for our kick-off evening there. And Patrick, Rebecca and Tom at Mammoth: A Climate Action Cinema, who embraced Doc’n Roll for our first night there. To Dom Gourlay, Jimi Arundel and CeCe who hosted Q&A sessions for us and built rapport and warmth with the directors. Big shout-out to James Thornhill, who was all set for his first hosting gig with us but the director’s train was cancelled. Next time James! Thanks to Rich from LeftLion who interviewed us and went into print just before the festival kicked off. And finally, to our longstanding friends at I’m Not From London, who help us every inch of the way. A big hug to all of you, and here’s to next year!
MANCHESTER: Nick Barber with Ella Vincenti and Nicky D’Arcy
Socials:
@barberpresents @Ella.vincenti @nicoladarcyfilm
Cinemas:
Home Manchester @homemcr and Café Blah @cafeblah
Docs:
Short docs: Linnea’s Brain; A Man For Our Time; The Personal Is Political; Hit Like a Woman; Music for the Deaf; Keepin' it Reel (local); Overground, Underground (local)
Feature-length docs: Lee Fields: Faithful Man, A Film About Studio Electrophonique, Heaven Stood Still: The Incarnations of Willy DeVille, This Is National Wake, Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande
Fave doc of the fest:
This Is National Wake was probably my favourite – an incredible story. It showed how music can really capture a spirit and be more than just about the music: music as protest, and as a way of bring people together. Also it allowed me to discover the music of National Wake – which really is incredible.
Fave moment of the fest:
We had a packed cinema for A Film About Studio Electrophonique, which was great. During the Q&A, James the director mentioned about meeting up with a guy who has no phone an no internet but has the second-largest Hawaiian music record collection in the world in his house in Sheffield – second only to the main university library in Hawaii.
Shout-outs:
To Nicky and Ella, who were a massive part of the whole process this year from beginning to the end, helping make content, marketing, introducing films, coming up with ingenious ways to get the festival out to the people and also being miles better than me at radio talk! A shout-out to John Robb and Charmaine Thompson, who hosted post-screening Q&As for A Film About Studio Electrophonique and Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande respectively.
And shout-outs to A Film About Studio Electrophonique director James Taylor and producer/contributor James Leesley; and to Tim Mackenzie-Smith, director of Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande along with Greg Wilson, legendary DJ and contributor, and the Ruthless Rap Assassins, legendary Manchester hip hop artists and contributors to the film, who were all guests on the post-screening Q&A panels.
GLASGOW: Lydia Honeybone
Socials:
@glasgowamis across all platforms
Cinema:
Glasgow Film Theatre
Docs:
A Film About Studio Electrophonique, Rewind and Play: Thelonious Monk, This Is National Wake, Lee Fields: Faithful Man, Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande.
Fave doc of the fest:
I’m a South Londoner, born and raised, who emigrated to Scotland so it was an emotional experience to watch Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande. I knew old boys like these rastas from Brixton with extraordinary tales to tell; I grew up around them. It meant a lot to see their story on the big screen.
Fave moment of the fest:
An audience member gave me a hug after the Cymande screening as we both reminisced about living in Brixton!
Shout-outs:
To all the Glasgow record stores and venues who chatted with me and got excited about the screenings: Mixed Up, Some Great Reward, Love Music, Monorail, The Old Hairdressers and Stereo. And a shout-out to the enthusiastic volunteers at the GFT, who were more knowledgeable about music and films than me!
EXETER: Robyn Lawrence
Socials:
@Robynndolly (Insta) @Robynndolly (Twitter)
Cinema:
Exeter Phoenix’s Studio 74
Docs:
A Film About Studio Electrophonique, TRAMPS! The Death of Punk, the New Romantics, the Art of Survival, Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande
Fave doc of the fest:
I really loved A Film About Studio Electrophonique, it was just delightfully Sheffield and learning about the impact Ken Patten had was such a treat. Even though I’d already seen it, I did have a little cry watching it for a second time as part of the audience.
Fave moment of the fest:
The atmosphere for Tramps! was an absolute joy, such a mix of audiences, existing and new audiences and a great excuse to pump some tunes and tart the place (and myself) up.
Shout-outs:
A massive shout-out to Claire at Exeter Phoenix, a fabulous advocate; to the marketing team Christina, Erika and Milly; to the volunteers Kelyn, Sara and Janet; and to the A-star front of house team Tom and Jamie. And a mega thanks to Lee at D&C Films for helping spread the word, as well as the wonderful DJs at PhonicFM, Tom, Pat, David, Cathy and Nick.
NEWCASTLE: Amelia Gardiner
Socials:
@ameliusness
Cinema:
Tyneside Cinema
Docs:
This is National Wake; Energy: A Documentary about Damo Suzuki; Trip: A Journey into the World of Psychedelic Sights and Sound; TRAMPS! The Death of Punk, the New Romantics, the Art of Survival; A Film about Studio Electrophonique; and Rewind and Play: Thelonious Monk.
Fave doc of the fest:
This is not a fair question – I have a lot of love for everything that played in the Newcastle programme! I’d have to say that the National Wake doc was the most impactful for me. I knew little about the band prior to seeing the film, and have played them non-stop since. There was an impromptu post-doc discussion that went on so long we ended up getting kicked out of the screening room.
Fave moment of the fest:
My nanny, celebrating her 78th birthday, came to see TRAMPS!; she went in with no prior knowledge and “learnt a lot”. Close second was Trip director, Lilly, experiencing the Toon for the first time (thankfully it was a Thursday so rather tame).
Shout-outs:
To the staff at Tyneside Cinema, who absolutely smashed it as always; their enthusiasm for the festival truly radiates. To Leigh Venus who hosted the Q&As for Energy and TRAMPS! – a great new addition to the Doc'n Roll family. And finally, directors Michelle Heighway, Lilly Creightmore, Kevin Hegge and James Taylor, for taking the time to do the post-screening Q&As.
LONDON: Beth Soan
Cinemas:
Rio Dalston, Hackney Picturehouse
Docs:
This Is National Wake; TRAMPS! The Death of Punk, The New Romantics, The Art of Survival; Fat White Family: Moonbathing in February
Fave doc of the fest:
I was mostly running around, so the only doc I got to see most of was TRAMPS!, which I thought was brilliant; you can tell it was made with love and I can't wait to see it again. I’m also looking forward to seeing This Is National Wake, because the five minutes I did see was so beautifully shot.
Fave moment of the fest:
Favourite moment was when we managed to pull off a cinema move due to a technical issue on the day of the scheduled screening – Vanessa is a pro and I’m pretty sure the audience didn't notice a thing (apart from the change of scene). The afterparty for This Is National Wake at the Shacklewell Arms was pretty good too!
Shout-outs:
This was my first time event-producing for Doc’n Roll and everything behind the scenes that could go wrong, did go wrong, with a few added curveballs of completely unforeseen circumstances thrown in for good measure, which was most unusual I am told! DNR has a brilliant gang of people involved and I couldn’t have done my job without the excellent volunteers (Fiona, Lee, Eve, Vivek, James, Laura and Lisa) who helped massively in keeping the whole thing running.
A massive big up to the directors (Mirissa Neff, Kevin Hegge and Niall Trask) and Q&A hosts (Estella Adeyeri, Rusty Egan and Kirsty Allison) who were a pleasure to work with and navigated our choppy waters with aplomb. The staff at the Rio Dalston and Hackney Picturehouse went above and beyond and had much patience for my many last-minute requests (Serdar at Hackney Picturehouse possibly has a new job as a sound engineer by now...). Steve and Jim at Paperdress Vintage also saved the day (and my blood pressure) by kindly renting us some mic stands, DI boxes and cables at the very last minute for the FWF event. All of my screenings involved banging afterparties, which couldn’t have happened without the organisation and enthusiasm of the Shacklewell Arms (Georgia, Tal, Amanda, Sofia), The Karaoke Hole (David and Emma) and the Ridley Road Market Bar (Kerry and Faye).
I went on a couple of intrepid treks around South London to distribute flyers and programmes and there is a long list of places with many good folk in the cafes, book shops and record shops of Forest Hill, Crystal Palace, Deptford, New Cross, Sydenham, Camberwell and Penge who kindly accepted my wares, so thank you to all! Thanks to Vanessa and Colm for having me on board, big respect for all you do and keeping all this going even in the toughest of times. Here’s to Doc’n Roll 2023!
LONDON: Benedicte Larrere
Socials:
@piecesofb (Insta), Benedicte Larrere (facebook.com)
Cinemas:
The Garden Cinema, Curzon Soho
Docs:
The Piccadilly Rats: Live In Moderation; City Of A Million Dreams: Parading For The Dead In New Orleans; The Mojo Manifesto: The Life And Times Of Mojo Nixon; Heaven Stood Still: The incarnations Of Willy DeVille
Fave doc of the fest:
I was lucky to genuinely love all the films I worked on, but I have to especially mention The Piccadilly Rats: Live in Moderation. Such a beautiful way of presenting the healing power of love, friendship and playing together in times of hardship, mental health struggles and substance abuse – music being the best language to use when words might fail.
Fave moment of the fest:
I have a very personal connection with Willy DeVille’s music and character, having been moved to tears when I listened to his music while still a teenager. I was extremely happy and humbled to be given the chance to help create a special moment when Crispin Cioe, Willy’s saxophonist for years, and co-producer of the film, took to the stage to play “Harlem Nocturne” (which he would open Willy’s gigs with back in the day) before joining the Q&A with director Larry Locke.
Shout-outs:
I would like to thank Vanessa Lobon and Colm Forde for giving me the amazing opportunity to be part of it all – their sheer dedication shines through everything they do – and Karen Shook, for also making so much happen for the better. Thanks a bunch to all the amazing talent (and their supportive family and friends) who made those films a reality, and managed the sometimes very long journey to be with us for in-person Q&As: Nathan Cunningham, Gaz Stanley, Heath Dean, Jason Berry, Larry Locke, Crispin Cioe (thanks to Nik Carter for lending his saxophone). Thanks too to Mojo Nixon and Matt Eskey who managed to make a zoom call super fun, engaging, and a real treat, and that's no mean feat!
Thanks to our fab Q&A hosts Garth Cartwright and Karen Shook. And to the great teams at the Garden Cinema and Curzon Soho for their support and great help in making those evenings very special. Shout-out to the volunteers: Laura M, Lisa S, Margaret P, Lee P, Charlotte D, Fiona W, George B and Jack W, who helped make it all possible on the night, and Andrea and Elena for photographing it all. And thanks to Fopp, Rock’N’Roll Rescue, The Dublin Castle, The Hawley Arms, The Good Mixer and numerous other bars, venues, journalists, fans and all round good people of London for helping spread the Doc’n Roll love.
LONDON: Anne-Marie McGregor
Cinemas:
Barbican, House of Vans, Ritzy Brixton, Curzon Soho
Docs:
A Film about Studio Electrophonique; Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande, God Said Give ’em Drum Machines, Rewind and Play: Thelonious Monk, Lee Fields A Faithful Man, Hargrove, Short film night at House of Vans x 2, Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues.
Fave doc of the fest:
Really tough; each story had inspiring moments and memorable tales or personalities. My favourite was Lee Fields: Faithful Man. A lot of our docs feature talented people who don’t get the recognition they deserve in their lifetime – Lee is gigging into his 70s, working harder than ever and supported and loved by his wife, family and a younger generation of musicians/audiences who all recognise how special he is, and it’s now his time to be appreciated.
Hargrove was also really special for the love in the room from the audience and director Eliane Henri’s struggles after Roy Hargrove passed away to get the film made despite opposition from a controlling and vindictive manager.
Fave moment of the fest: The Cymande homecoming screening at The Ritzy Brixton with the majority of the band and their families, young and old, especially Pablo’s grandson who hadn't seen the film – plus the party afterwards. The most people we've ever had on stage for a Q&A. And the House of Vans shorts nights are always special as the filmmakers are so talented and creative, and love the opportunity to screen at a super-cool venue in London – plus they get great swag.
Shout-outs:
To all our fantastic volunteers and co-ordinator Fiona Johnston in particular. Henrique, Ali, Andra and Bruna. Alex Davidson and the teams at the Barbican, our Q&A hosts Karen Shook, Tony Minvielle, Deb Grant, Toni Kofi, Kevin Le Gendre and Jaqueline Springer. Hester Yang, Mike Harth, Zara, Rosemary and the team at House of Vans. The Prince of Wales for hosting our Cymande party with DJs Jonny Cuba and Ollie Teeba. Our incredible directors and guests, James Taylor, James Leesley, Martyn Ware, Kristian Hill, David Pellicario, Tim Mackenzie-Smith, Soren Sorensen and Omar Sosa, Jessamyn Ansary and Joyce Mishaan, Eliane Henri and Garth Cartwright.
Finally a shout-out to Colm Forde and Vanessa Lobon, the festival’s founders and directors, for the incredible job they do in pulling this festival together for everyone to enjoy. Their passion, energy and dedication to bringing back the punk rock ethos into a cynical industry, helping to get these stories out to fans, and bringing everyone else as well to so many new artists and even genres to check out. They put their all into the festival to make it so special and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of Doc’n Roll.
EDINBURGH: Morven Masterton
Socials:
@docnrollscot @morvenawoman
Cinema:
Cameo Cinema (Picturehouse)
Docs:
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande; Lee Fields: Faithful Man; TRAMPS! The Death of Punk, The New Romantics, the Art of Survival; Age of Rage: The Australian Punk Revolution This is National Wake; Trip: A Journey into the World of Psychedelic Sights and Sound; A Film about Studio Electrophonique
Fave doc of the fest:
Oooh, my fave doc music-wise without doubt was Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande. An incredible band of musicians with a unique sound who were completely underexposed and underappreciated at their creative peak due to racial prejudice. Enlightening and entertaining! From a storytelling perspective, A Film about Studio Electrophonique was a touching tale simply and subtly told, with added down to earth Yorkshire charm.
Fave moment of the fest:
The audiences across the board were incredibly supportive and engaged – so many great conversations and positive feedback post-screenings. A constant reminder of why we do what we do! And the intercity Doc’n Roll WhatsApp chat among the team was an absolute hoot. A daily dose of affirmation and inspiration that helped me feel less isolated in the north :)
Shout-outs:
The place to start has to be with our new volunteers – Dawn, Andy and Holly. Getting to know people who love music and love what we do and then share that love with our new audiences is a joy to behold. And never, ever have so many audience feedback forms been collected in the history of a BFI-funded screening!!!
The Cameo has become our home and the managers and staff were as friendly and helpful as ever. Big love to Grand Chief Stewart and his head handlers Rob, Jamie and George. They make it welcoming, and they make it easy.
Vic Galloway has been part of our Scottish Doc’n Roll family since day one and continues to host our Q&As with levels of knowledge and enthusiasm that few could compete with. His energy is contagious and he’s generally a splendid chap who always has loads of facts and anecdotes to inform the director convos. Don’t go changin'!
We were so lucky to have three directors come to take part in Edinburgh Q&As. They travelled from across the Atlantic and the Channel to be with us. Jessamyn, Joyce and Lilly, what a pleasure it was to have your films and YOU for our Edinburgh audiences. Keep on keeping on!
And that's not all, folks – check back for more firsthand Doc'n Roll 2022 reports from other members of our team!