10 Music Movies Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival 2023

More music is hitting the big screen at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, June 7-18. This year, the festival is set to showcase 109 feature films from 36 countries and 127 directors, including an extensive list of music-related documentaries and other movies.

In Cypher, director Chris Mourkabel presents a pseudo-documentary about rapper Tierra Whack, while Songs About Fucking, directed by James Gallagher, follows performer Marc Rebillet as he embarks on his Third Dose Tour, following the COVID lockdown.

Dancehall and classical music intertwine in Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall, a documentary about the emergence of the dancehall scene in the 1980s and ‘90s in New York City, featuring executive producer Shaggy, along with Sean Paul, Ding Dong, and more. 

Anthem follows composer Kris Bowers and DJ Dahi on a cross-country road trip to find out a national anthem that truly reflects America.

In Maestra, director Maggie Contreras follows women from different backgrounds as they compete in the first all-women competition for conducting, and For Khadija documents the story of Moroccan-born rapper French Montana.

Here’s a look at 10 more films premiering at Tribeca this year, spotlighting everyone from U2, Cyndi Lauper, Alicia Keys, and more:

1. Cyndi Lauper
Let the Canary Sing

Directed by Alison Ellwood, who most recently directed the Emmy-winning series Laurel Canyon and the 2020 eponymous documentary on The Go-Go’s, Let the Canary Sing chronicles Cyndi Lauper’s journey from her early upbringing in Queens, New York to her 1983 blockbuster debut, She’s So Unusual, and worldwide fame.

2. Alicia Keys
Uncharted 

Director Beth Aala goes behind the scenes of Alicia Keys’ She Is The Music songwriting camp and takes a deeper look into the music business and its “lack of access and opportunity granted to young black and brown women,” according to the film descriptor.

3. Carlos Santana
Carlos

Filmmaker Rudy Valdez shares a personal narrative of the legendary guitarist Carlos Santana’s life and music. Carlos features never-before-seen footage and a story narrated in Santana’s own words.

4. Gogol Bordello
Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story 

The world premiere of the New York City gypsy punk rockers Gogol Bordello follows Ukrainian band leader Eugene Hütz, as he shares how the Ukraine and Romani cultures influenced the band. Directed by Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib, and executive produced by Liev Schreiber, the film also captures the band’s untamed communal live performances.

5. Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli

Directed by Luke Koren, Milli Vanilli follows the story of the German-French R&B, dance-pop duo of Fabrice Morvan and the late Robert Pilatus, who broke out with their 1988 debut album, All or Nothing, and hit song “Girl You Know It’s True,” as well as Milli Vanilli‘s rise as one of the biggest pop acts in the world by 1990, and their subsequent downfall.

Shortly after their success, the duo was forced to return their 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist after it was revealed that they did not sing on any of their albums, while under the tutelage of German producer Frank Farian.

The documentary will stream on Paramount+ in fall 2023.

6. Gloria Gaynor
I Will Survive

Titled after the disco queen’s 1978 hit, I Will Survive documents Gloria Gaynor‘s comeback from health issues, domestic abuses, financial ruin, and more with her Grammy-winning gospel album, Testimony, in 2019.

7. Biz Markie
All Up in the Biz 

Director Sacha Jenkins tells the story of the late rapper, Biz Markie, who died in 2021 at the age of 57, through interviews, rare footage, animation, and more.

8. Indigo Girls
It’s Only Life After All

Director Alexandria Bombach gets behind the Indigo Girls‘ Emily Saliers and Amy Ray’s storied history, from “15 million records sold, including their personal struggles, incessant dismissal by music critics, and devotion to LGBTQ+ and Indigenous rights,” according to a film descriptor, and the folk duo’s perseverance over the past 35 years.

9. Sara Bareilles
Waitress, the Musical – Live on Broadway! 

Sara Bareilles scores the hit Broadway show Waitress, the Musical and also starred as Jenna Hunterson, a pie-making waitress with big dreams who’s stuck in an unfulfilling marriage and small town. Directed by Brett Sullivan, the film captures the return of the Broadway show in 2021, with Bareilles reprising her role as Hunterson.

First debuting on Broadway in April 2016 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Waitress, the Musical was nominated for four Tony awards and won a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album before closing in 2020 due to the pandemic.

10. U2
Kiss the Future

Directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain, and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Sarah Anthony, Kiss the Future follows a group of underground musicians and creatives during the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War in the early-to-mid-’90s and U2’s concert at Koševo Stadium on September 23, 1997, during their PopMart Tour. The band was the first major act allowed in the city of Sarajevo following the end of the war in 1995.

The film features interviews with U2’s Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton.

“We know U2’s marquee is helpful in getting the lives of these local heroes to a wider audience, but even at my most puffed up I couldn’t have imagined our tiny role being given so much care, attention, and screen time by Nenad Cicin-Sain,” said Bono in a statement. “If defiance is the essence of romance, then the people of Sarajevo are the most romantic figures. Viva Sarajevo!”

The Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 7 to 19; tickets are available at tribecafilm.com.

Photo: Tribeca Film Festival / Courtesy of Rogers & Cowan