The first ever Doc’n Roll Festival featuring international music documentaries and a rare retrospective of one of the greatest music doc filmmakers will take place September 25 to 28 at Hackney Picturehouse in London, England.  With more than a dozen documentaries showing over four days, the line-up will include premieres, Q&As and special live events. 

For the inaugural 4-day festival, the retrospective strand will focus on the work of British director Julien Temple, with docs including Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten and LONDON The Modern Babylon plus a Q&A session with Temple following a screening of Oil City Confidential which will include an exclusive opportunity to see a teaser from his upcoming doc about Wilko Johnson.

 Oil City Confidential (2009) tells the story of Dr. Feelgood, a four-piece band who emerged from Cavney Island in the 1970s to conquer Europe and top the UK charts. With contributions from members of The Clash, Blondie and The Sex Pistols plus collaborators Jools Holland and Alison Moyet. In Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007), Temple draws on his close friendship and shared punk history to celebrate the life and legacy of Joe Strummer, before, during and after The Clash. In LONDON The Modern Babylon (2012), Temple draws on a century of music and film archive to tell the story of London’s epic journey through 100 years of cultural upheaval and reinvention. Among the line-up of familiar faces are David Bowie, Ray Davies, Bishi, Mick Jagger, Malcolm McLaren as well as the ordinary people of London from all walks of life. The extraordinary soundtrack spans 100 years of London music including iconic tracks from the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Small Faces, Lily Allen, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, The Kinks, Madness, Bob Marley through to Tommy Trinder, Max Bygraves, Vera Lynn, Lonnie Donnegan, Murray Johnson and Robert Burns, plus many more.

Also included in the Doc’n Roll line-up is the London Premiere of the American doc directed by Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlet about the first black punk band (or arguably the first ever punk band). A Band Called Death (2012) looks at the three teenage brothers who dared to be different during the 1970s Motown and Disco era. Whilst their music may have been ahead of their time, three decades later Death’s music was rediscovered by a new audience and the band finally received the recognition they deserved.

Looking for Johnny (2014), a documentary on the life of the late New York Dolls and Heartbreakers guitarist Johnny Thunders, will also be included in this year’s program. Director Danny Garcia talked to the fifty people who were closest to the rocker about his music which inspired punk and glam-metal and his hard lifestyle which lead to his untimely demise at 38.

Main festival screenings will take place at Hackney Picturehouse.

 Full program to be announced early September.