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A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa

Jan 1, 1993

0h 49m

★ 9.0

Overview

The documentary examines Frank Zappa and his music through archive footage, including unique video excerpts from Austrian television archives featuring interviews with Zappa and backstage scenes from the 1970s and 1980s. The entire film is divided into chapters discussing the most important themes in Zappa's life and work.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

DoRo Productions

A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self

Frank Zappa

Self

Dweezil Zappa

Self

Ahmet Zappa

Self (archive footage)

Keith Moon

Self

Brian May

Self (archive footage)

Ringo Starr

Self

Keith Richards

Self

Nicolas Slonimsky

Self (archive footage)

Neil Jordan

Self

Andy Summers

Self

Jean-Luc Ponty

Self

George Duke

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

5.0

Swinging Light

Mar 21, 2025

An experience of a camera swinging in different gestures facing the optical distortion of the Sun. The last appearance of the smudge.

0.0

Totem Talk

Apr 3, 1997

Traditional Northwestern Indigenous spiritual images combined with cutting-edge computer animation in this surreal short film about the power of tradition. Three urban Indigenous teens are whisked away to an imaginary land by a magical raven, and there they encounter a totem pole. The totem pole's characters—a raven, a frog and a bear—come to life, becoming their teachers, guides and friends. Features a special interview with J. Bradley Hunt, the celebrated Heiltsuk artist on whose work the characters in Totem Talk are based.

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0.0

Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere

Jun 1, 1980

Frank Zappa: New York & Elsewhere is an Austrian released TV documentary directed in 1980 by Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher, aka DoRo productions, who are most popular for their work with Queen.

6.2

In Search of Beethoven

Apr 17, 2009

In Search of Beethoven offers a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of the great composer. Over 65 performances by the world's finest musicians were recorded and 100 interviews conducted in the making of this beautifully crafted film. Eleven interviews are included in the Extras and Six complete movements.

6.0

The Ground

Jan 30, 2001

Interweaving stonework and filmmaking, Beavers evokes memory through hammer strokes and chisel sounds that shape both image and rhythm. In this dialogue of repetition and variation, the film carves out a space where emptiness itself gains form, allowing vision beyond sight.

8.0

SIMON! The Joy of Conducting

May 16, 2025

“As I child, I always had music in my head. I thought everybody did,” the legendary conductor Sir Simon Rattle recalls. His charming and humorous reflections on the unifying magic of conducting are complemented by interviews with well-known contemporaries and accompanied by thrilling concert footage. His music is a joy to all those who listen to it!

6.2

Panta Rhei

Mar 8, 1952

In 1952, Haanstra made Panta Rhei , another view of Holland through the eyes of a painter and filmmaker. Its poetic images of water, skies and clouds reflect Haanstra's own moods.

7.8

Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily

Oct 5, 2014

In the feature documentary, Summer 82 – When Zappa Came to Sicily, filmmaker and Zappa fan Salvo Cuccia tells the behind-the-scenes story of Frank Zappa's star-crossed concert in Palermo, Sicily, the wrap-up to a European tour that ended in public disturbances and police intervention. Cuccia had a ticket to the concert but never made it. Thirty years later, collaborating with Zappa's family, he re-creates the events through a combination of rare concert and backstage footage; photographs; anecdotes from family, band members, and concertgoers; and insights from Zappa biographer and friend Massimo Bassoli. The story is also a personal one, as Cuccia interweaves the story of Zappa's trip to Sicily with his own memories from that summer.

5.0

Cinnamon

Jan 20, 2006

An experimental film that lifts the veil on the world of African American drag racing.

6.8

Facing the Music

Jul 7, 2001

Anne Boyd, one of Australia's leading contemporary composers, teaches music at the publicly funded University of Sydney. This documentary chronicles a year in the life of an academic department that's under the financial gun.

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0.0

Leoš Janáček

Jan 1, 1955

No overview available.

7.4

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

Nov 4, 2017

Oscar winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.

3.8

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

Dec 22, 2011

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

6.5

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand

Dec 4, 2024

Michel Legrand, jazz musician and composer extraordinaire, has left his mark on the history of cinema, including the films of Jacques Demy, especially The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the 60th anniversary of which is being celebrated in Cannes. Using never-before-seen archives and personal accounts, the film looks back on a lifetime dedicated to music, and the career of a man who served it masterfully to the very end.

0.0

Shared Table

Mar 25, 2016

“Last August, several filmmakers joined me to repair the splices in Markopoulos’s Eniaios. I interrupted our work for a moment; the generosity of James, Silvia, Nina, Alexandre and Julia prompted me to film them. Then I filmed James Edmonds a second time with the avocado plant that he had grown while we were working together.” (RB)

5.3

The Song of Italy

Dec 31, 1967

Filmed during Jonas Mekas’s travels through Italy in 1967, this short captures scenes from the country’s cities and countryside. The footage was later included in his 2003 compilation film Travel Songs (1967–1981).

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5.0

Memories of a Young Pianist

Nov 3, 2009

Interview with the italian composer Claudio Gizzi about his lifetime and work as part or the extras of the Blu-Ray edition from What? (Che?) (1972) from Roman Polanski

5.2

December Hide-and-Go-Seek

Jul 29, 1993

"Ryuta is 5 years old. Even though he is my son, I sometimes wonder what this small person is to me. Even though I see his joys and sadnesses and know the feel of his warmth on my skin when I hold him, there are moments when my feelings for him become vague and blank." - Takashi Ito

0.0

Tree Limbs

Apr 18, 2025

A homogeneous structure of wind and light across tree branches in the South region of Isère