Playlist, Tom Davenport 12.18.20

I selected a few films to introduce the idea of a curated list.   I like these titles --- that is the simple criterion for this selection.  I can do more later.   They show some of the variety and depth of the collection.  

 

African American Work Songs in a Texas Prison, 1965 by Pete and Toshi Seeger, based on field work by Bruce Jackon.  

 

A Singing Stream 1985 —  my own film about a rural Black family in North Carolina. First of a two part series following the Landis family over four generations.

 

Style Wars 1983— Urban graffiti art in New York

 

Clotheslines 1981— local women in the Bronx talk about their secret lives..

 

It Ain’t City Music 1973— a short film to watch if you liked the Ken Burns series on Country Music.  15 minutes.  The National Country music contest in Warrenton, Virginia.  

 

The Highly Exaulted 1984— a romantic portray of cowboys on one of the last  cattle drives in the USA.

 

The Men Who Danced the Giglio 1995 — an Italian religious festival and parade in Brooklyn, New York

 

The End of An Old Song —1969,  one of the last singers of English ballads in the mountains of North Carolina. A film by John Cohen, one of my heros. 

 

Halsted Street 1995  Chicago.  A single street through the city.  Narrated by Studs Terkel

 

Celebration of a Marriage  1986  An traditional hispanic marriage in New Mexico. In depth contextual background materials by Daniel Patterson. 

 

How to Build an Igloo.  1949 Canadian film board documentary. 

 

Til the Butcher Cut HIm Down 1971 New Orleans Jazz and the last sad days of Kid Punch, one of the great trumpet players.