Best movies like Fela
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Fela Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and more. If you liked Fela then you may also like: Stoned, Nina, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, Quincy, Jammin' the Blues and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
A chronicle of the life of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician and political force who invented Afro-beat music and introduced it to the world.
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No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.
Jammin' the Blues
In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.
The Buddy Holly Story
A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
In the sixties, Eddie and the cruisers was the hottest band around. But the tragic death of its lead singer broke the band up. Only Eddie is not dead. He works as a carpenter in Montreal. His love of music forces him to create a new band which will have to struggle with its anonymity.
Lady Sings the Blues
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.
England Is Mine
A portrait of Steven Patrick Morrissey and his early life in 1970s Manchester before he went on to become lead singer of seminal 1980s band The Smiths.
Immortal Beloved
A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.
Leadbelly
The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.
Chasing Trane
An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.
The Music of Silence
Born with a serious eye condition that eventually leads to his blindness, Bocelli nevertheless rises above the challenges, driven by great ambitions towards his passion. The silent pursuit of his daily mission continues.
Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story
TV movie based on the singer's life, under his mother's thumb, competing with the ghost of one of the most famous singers in C&W music history, and aspiring to rise above it all.
What We Do Is Secret
The true-life story of Darby Crash, who became an L.A. punk icon with his band The Germs. Along with Lorna Doom, Pat Smear, and Don Bolles, Darby Crash completely transformed the L.A. punk scene, while sacrificing everyone he loved, his career, and ultimately his life.
John Denver: Country Boy
This BBC documentary chronicles the life of folk/soft-rock singer John Denver through his rise with The Chad Mitchell Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, his subsequent stardom, his popularity decline, and his tragic death at age 53.
Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words
Revealing bio-documentary giving an exclusive look into the life of one of the world's most admired and respected musicians as Bruce Springsteen explores and explains his greatest influences
National Theatre Live: Fela!
A provocative and wholly unique hybrid of dance, theatre and music, FELA! explores the world of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Winner of three 2010 Tony Awards including Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones). Featuring many of Fela Kuti’s most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones’ visionary staging, FELA! – an original new creation – comes via Broadway to London and the National Theatre. FELA! explores the extravagant, decadent and rebellious world of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Using his pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), FELA! reveals Kuti’s controversial life as an artist and political activist.
Tumbledown
A young woman struggles to move on with her life after the death of her husband, an acclaimed folk singer, when a brash New York writer forces her to confront her loss and the ambiguous circumstances of his death.
Reclaiming Amy
To mark the ten year anniversary of her death, Amy Winehouse's closest family and friends reveal the truth about the music icon and the impact that her loss has had on them. With access to never-before-seen family archives and rare musical performances, this highly personal and powerful account of the life and death of one of Britain’s best-loved musicians offers a new interpretation of her life, her loves and her legacy.
Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival - The Other Side of the Mirror
An unvarnished chronicle of Bob Dylan's metamorphosis from folk to rock musician via appearances at the Newport Folk Festival between 1963 and 1965.
The Harryhausen Chronicles
As an actor, director and producer, Ray Harryhausen has been a vibrant figure in Hollywood, working on everything from family films to mind-bending sci-fi. But his true genius lay in the creation of special effects for movies such as Mighty Joe Young and It Came from Outer Space. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and featuring appearances by George Lucas and Ray Bradbury, this film documents Harryhausen's remarkable life's work.
My Gal Sal
Biopic chronicling the early life of gay nineties-era songwriter Paul Dresser as he outgrows his job as carnival entertainer and moves up into New York society, writing one hit song after another. Despite his egotistical behavior, he manages to woo and win Sally Elliott, one of the more popular songstresses of the day
Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back
"Meat Loaf" Aday is an overgrown Texas youngster, the son of a gentle woman dying of cancer and an alcoholic, abusive father. Tormented by his father and schoolmates over his size, he strikes out on his own after his mother's death, in an impossible task to prove himself to the world and to himself. A chance audition for a musical leads him to join forces with composer Jim Steinman, and together the two make music history with the operatic rock album "Bat Out of Hell." But the demons that drive Meat Loaf aren't assuaged by success, and eventually he must come to terms with them.
Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave
This is a lonely New Year's Eve for Hank Williams as he spends it en route to a huge New Years Day concert in Ohio. Hank Williams died that night on the road. A fictional biography is shown in flashback.
Knights of Swing
Set in 1947, Knights of Swing is a feature film that chronicles a group of young jazz musicians whose dream is to form a “really swingin’ Big Band”. Unfortunately, things prove much more complicated when the community objects to the diversity of the band. Alliances form, and lines are drawn. What follows is soul searching, uplifting, and through music, our story illuminates forgiveness, healing and unconditional love.
Fela In Concert
This historic show was recorded in Paris in 1981 during an exclusive, all-night concert. Punctuated by the exotic and suggestive tribal dances and rituals performed on stage by 15 of Fela's wives, this exceptional event was captured by multiple cameras, enhancing this special DVD presentation. Fela was a musician, a politician, a spiritual chief, and an agitator all at once, but however one views the man, he was undeniably a symbolic icon of struggle & revolution, as well as one of the most beloved men in Africa. In Nigeria, Fela claimed that he was better known than the President. It was probably true.
Fela Kuti: Live at Glastonbury 1984
Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti performs at the 1984 Glastonbury Festival. Originally produced for Arena.
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Mike Figgis’ enthralling documentary about the turbulent life and career of Ronnie Wood, legendary rock guitarist and long-time member of The Rolling Stones.
Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage
An in-depth look at the Canadian rock band Rush, chronicling the band's musical evolution from their progressive rock sound of the '70s to their current heavy rock style.
A chronicle of the life of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician and political force who invented Afro-beat music and introduced it to the world.
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Fela Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and more. If you liked Fela then you may also like: Stoned, Nina, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, Quincy, Jammin' the Blues and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Stoned
A chronicle of the sordid life and suspicious death of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, who was found in the bottom of his swimming pool weeks after being let go from the band.