Name That Tune

3 Comments POSTED: August 30, 2006 05:26 | By: Thom Powers
war-is-over.jpgMusic plays an integral role in so many of this year?s TIFF documentaries. We invite you to send comments on your favorite documentary sound tracks ? whether it?s Philip Glass in Thin Blue Line or The Beach Boys? ?Wouldn?t It Be Nice?? in Roger & Me or Bob Dylan in Dont Look Back. Filmmakers, tell us your experiences of working with music in your docs.

Festival goers, tell us your favorite use of music from this year?s TIFF docs. You?ll hear a wide array of styles from the reggae strains of Made in Jamaica to a score performed by the Kronos Quartet in The Killer Within.

Here are some of the stand out performances for me this year:

SUMMERCAMP! ? The Flaming Lips contributed songs to this sound track, including the memorable use of ?It?s Summertime.? Co-director Bradley Beesley previously made a doc about the band called The Fearless Freaks. The Flaming Lips will be performing in Toronto on Sept 9.

BLINDSIGHT ? after the film in the theater lobby, listen for audience members singing ?Happy Together? by the Turtles.

GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL ? the Haitian gang leader 2pac named himself after Tupac Shakur. Like his namesake, the Haitian 2pac uses rap to tell narratives of the street. His songs along with Wyclef Jean?s soundtrack will haunt you like a ghost. Jean is expected to visit Toronto on Sept 9, taking a day off from his current tour.

THE U.S. VS JOHN LENNON ? A replica of Lennon & Yoko Ono?s 1969 Christmas billboard ?WAR IS OVER! (If you want it)? recently went up in New York City?s Greenwich Village (above) to commemorate this film. The song ?Happy Christmas (War is Over)? was recorded by Lennon and Ono with the help of Phil Spector and the Harlem Community Choir in 1971. But it sounds as relevant as ever today.

LET?S GET LOST ? Bruce Weber?s 1988 documentary about jazz trumpet player Chet Baker became all the more poignant when the musician` died before the film?s release. Weber will present and discuss the film as part of TIFF?s Dialogues series. In the film Baker performs Elvis Costello?s song ?Almost Blue.? Costello later wrote that he conceived the song with Baker in mind, but had no idea the jazz great had ever sung it until seeing this film.

DIXIE CHICKS: SHUT UP AND SING ? Before seeing this movie, I only knew the band for their politics, not their music. After watching, I?m a total convert. The new album ?Taking The Long Way? is in heavy rotation on my iPod. This summer, I even drove from Toronto to Detroit to see the start of their new tour (a concert that Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck filmed to use as the closing credits for this film).

Now it's your turn to the name the documentary tunes - past or present - that left an impression on you.

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