The directorial debut of actor and superfan Michael Rapaport, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest offers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the hip hop icons’ tumultuous 2008 reunion tour. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the feature was given an intimate preview at London Koko last year but has yet to receive a theatrical or DVD release on this side of the pond.
Happily, the good people at DocHouse have organised a special screening on January 19 at the Tricycle cinema in Kilburn. Click here for tickets and, to get you in the mood, be sure to read Angus Batey’s anniversary feature on ATCQ’s classic second LP The Low End Theory.
The event is part of 2012’s DocHouse Thursdays season, which kicked off at the Prince Charles last week with Werner Herzog’s superb death penalty exploration Into The Abyss (stay tuned for the Quietus’ full verdict). This Thursday sees Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios host the UK premiere of Abendland, which promises a "subtly apocalyptic view of Western consumerism and decadence" by Austrian auteur Nikolaus Geyrhalter, whose industrialised food study Our Daily Bread was eagerly digested by tQ’s film editor David Moats.
The month’s factual treats are capped by Sonny Rollins: Beyond The Notes, which airs on Thursday January 26 at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green. Helmed by veteran British director Dick Fontaine (whose CV includes vintage BBC Arena piece Beat This: A Hip-Hip History), this portrait of the octogenarian New York jazz colossus will be followed by a Q&A with the director and producer.
Check the DocHouse website for more information on these and future programmes…
