John Cage

Silently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back. (imdb)

Autobiographical documentary about the director and J. Edgar Hoover.

More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Several also comment. Early in the film, Charles Bukowski talks about the energy of poets and of a poem. These poets are energetic performers, and their poems are meant to be heard. These poets are the children of Walt Whitman and of Charles Olson, incantatory and oratorical, radical, sometimes incorporating contemporary political imagery. (imdb)

This Film is an intimate music portrait of American composer Frank Zappa, who lives secluded from the outside world at his home and music studio in Los Angeles, California. For the past ten years Zappa in composing has turned away from Rock and Roll music - for which he first became famous - and has been working on new, contemporary, orchestral electronic music; in solitude and beyond any commercial conventions or commitments. It is the first time that Zappa has allowed a film crew to study him (imdb)

Dutch director Frank Scheffer collaborates with Andrew Culver for a series of four short films celebrating the theories and music of avant-garde composer John Cage. In 19 QUESTIONS, Cage answers questions on a variety of subjects. (CD Universe)

Global Groove is a jumping-off point from which to explore current trends in international video art. A characteristically fast-paced barrage of images and sounds, Global Groove was Paik's prophetic statement about the future ubiquity of video. "This is a glimpse of a video landscape of tomorrow, when you will be able to switch to any TV station on the earth and TV Guides will be as fat as the Manhattan telephone book," he said. (Broad Art Museum)

A film about our relationship with silence and the impact of noise on our lives. (imdb)

4 American Composers offers startling and intimate insights into the music and ideas of four very original American composers: John Cage, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, and Robert Ashley. Incorporating performance and conversations with and about the artists, these programs create an experience that extends beyond the music alone, that explores each composer's concepts and expresses their personalities. (philipglass.com)

Although Rahsaan Roland Kirk and John Cage never actually meet in this film (Cage's enigmatic questions about sound are intercut with some of Kirk's more ambitious experiments with it) these two very different musical iconoclasts share a similar vision of the boundless possibilities of music. (themoviedb)

The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is stunningly profiled in Alla Kovgan's 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, and Robert Rauschenberg. (imdb)

A sonic innovator or an expert on chance? This documentary by Oscar-winning director Allan Miller and Emmy-winner Paul Smaczny pays tribute to the most fascinating American avant-garde composer. Shot in America, Germany and Japan, 'Journeys in Sound' premieres rare archival footage and features associates of John Cage and contemporary artists. (themoviedb.org)