The Magic City: Birmingham according to Sun Ra
β 8 Β· 2025 Β· 97m Β· Documentary Β· Music
Between segregation and cosmic revelation, The Magic City traces the birth of Sun Ra, where a city becomes myth and a man, a galaxy.
More Like This

Let's Make Rhythm
1947 Β· β 7
The musical short features a romantic story that ties in with the music of Stan Kenton and his Orchestra with June Christy and the Pastels.
More info β
Bill Evans Time Remembered
2015 Β· β 6.7
A biographical film featuring the music and times of Bill Evans with interviews from Tony Bennett, Jack Dejohnette, Billy Taylor, Paul Motian, Jon Hendricks, Orin Keepnews, Bobby Brookmeyer, Pat Evans and more, including family and friends who knew Bill Evans well.
More info β
You, the Living
2007 Β· β 7.1
In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.
More info βAfter Hours
1961 Β· β 5.5
Documentary short showcasing the genius of jazz greats Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, and Milt Hinton, among others.
More info β
Space Is the Place
1974 Β· β 5.8
Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra return to Earth after several years in space. Ra proclaims himself "the alter-destiny", meets with inner-city youths and battles with the devil himself to save the black race.
More info β
Judith Hill Elbjazz Festival 2024
2024
Immersed in music from an early age, Judith Hill's work blends soul, R&B and funk. Her sincere and fragile creations prove just how much courage and strength it takes for women to make their mark in the male-dominated music industry.
More info β
Music Inn
2007 Β· β 10
During a decade rife with paranoia, in the middle of the McCarthy era, Music Inn was a bold experiment. Halfway between the Second World War and The Civil Rights Movement, Phil and Stephanie Barber created an oasis in the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts where aspiring musicians came to learn from the very best. Students and faculty, young and old, rich and poor, white, black, and brown convened together and learned from each other. Defying the surrounding environment, Music Inn harbored a racial and cultural harmony where music was all that mattered.
More info β
Sweet and Lowdown
1999 Β· β 6.8
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
More info β
A World Without Beethoven?
2020 Β· β 7.2
"What would the world be like without Beethoven?" Thatβs the provocative question posed by this music documentary from Deutsche Welle. To answer it, the film explores how Ludwig van Beethoven's innovations continue to have an impact far beyond the boundaries of classical music, 250 years after his birth.
More info β
Bailey's Blues
2025
In 1960s France, a jazz musician becomes the subject of an impromptu documentary.
More info β
Ray
2004 Β· β 7.5
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
More info β