Directed by Marco Porsia
United States • 2019 • 121 mins. • In English
Michael Gira and his band Swans are one of industrial music’s heaviest and most emotionally shattering groups. Filmmaker Porsia went behind-the-scenes for years to fashion this wide-ranging ode to Swans’ unique brand of unsettling, transcendent music. Formed in the ‘80s post-punk scene and touring extensively with bands like Sonic Youth, Swans made a name particularly for Gira’s high-wire performances, laced with pathos and bursts of violence while squalls of noise cascaded behind him in dingy basements and makeshift venues. Now, Swans retains a great deal of their unpredictability in the middle of their third decade in existence—and remains one of American music’s most vital acts.
Part of the 37th Annual Reel Music Festival.
Genres: Documentary
Appears in: Reel Music 37