The American Epic Sessions

Director: Bernard MacMahon

Year: 2021

Tracing the journey of the four members of Led Zeppelin, the 'Stairway To Heaven' rockers, through the music scene of the 1960s to their meeting in the summer of 1968. Culminating in 1970 when Led Zeppelin II's 'Whole Lotta Love' knocked The Beatles off the top of the charts and launched what would become the biggest band in the world. Featuring new interviews with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones, as well as rare archival interviews with the late drummer John Bonham, and previously unseen archive imagery, state of the art audio transfers of the band’s music, and music that influenced the band’s sound. Official Selection Venice Film Festival 2021 - Out of Competition - World premiere

Director: Bernard MacMahon

Year: 2016

Take a journey across time to the birth of modern music, when the musical strands of a diverse nation were first combined, thereby sparking a cultural revolution that forever transformed the future of music and the world. The event will include clips of the film, an extended conversation with the creators including executive producers Robert Redford, T Bone Burnett and Jack White, and live performances featuring The Avett Brothers and other special music guests. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2016 - Special Events

Director: Siobhan Silén

Year: 2027

An animated VR short inspired by autistic musician Jen Msumba, who defies a system designed to erase her through synaesthetic music-making. It explores the universal need to be accepted for who we are. Participants journey through Jen’s life, from childhood, when the world feels confusing and “wonky”. Music is her safety and compass. While others read notes on a page, Jen sees visual maps that help her express emotions and navigate uncertainty. As a teenager, Jen’s mother becomes ill and her anxiety overwhelms her. Years of psychiatric institutions and medication leave her sedated, unable to play instruments. Her family sends her to the Judge Rotenberg Center, whose practices will later be described by the United Nations as torture. Over seven years of confinement and painful electric shocks, Jen is taught to believe she is “wrong”. Secretly composing music in her head becomes her refuge. Realising the centre will not support her independence, Jen writes to a judge and wins her freedom. She rediscovers music and invites us into her musical map, where participants touch and transform notes through movement, shifting melodies from classical to punk rock. We end with Jen performing on stage.