Rhythm Nation 1814

The life of Moses as told through the Book of Exodus, the imagination of a dying boy, and the ballads of his father.

When you feel it, get it started / Even if you don’t, just somehow get it started / Whatever it may be, however it may be but / Anyhow let's just get it started.

After being misled by the police about a rape and murder near a popular Washington, D.C. Go-Go club, a jaded journalist begins digging into the establishment's racist framework.

The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio mans moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unprecedented block party.

A behind-the-scenes look at the putting on of the successful West End stage musical, including footage of the cast rehearsing and the triumphant first night.

Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money. This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.” The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more.

The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.

The story begins the day before the graduation ceremony. Five middle school girls each are preoccupied with their real everyday lives. These girls meet each other in a fantasy world after being sent there through a sudden occurrence. There, they learn about the impending crisis that this world is facing. The way to avert this crisis is for the five to collaborate and bring their five hearts together as one through dance. However, the five cannot come to love the world, and cannot tell their true feelings to one another, so their hearts are unable to unite. The time limit is fast approaching. Can the dance of the five girls save the world? And will they be able to graduate?

Brass and percussion blend with dramatic choreography, brilliant lighting and special effects to create a new genre of performance in BLAST! Its performers move constantly, staging intricate movements to classical, symphonic, Broadway and popular music.Taped at the London Apollo Hammersmith Theatre in April 2000, BLAST! musical highlights include Ravel's "Bolero," Copland's "Appalachian Spring," and Chuck Mangione's "Land of Make Believe."

It's 1967 and British pop sensations Norman's Normans have accidentally blasted off a rocket from the British Space Agency and landed on a planet of all women. When the princess falls for lead singer Norman, the queen imprisons the British invaders. Can they use their catchy rhythms to win over the girls of Hormone and help them make peace with the neighboring planet of men, all the while finding a way back home to Earth?

In this musical showcase, two aspiring stars attempt to wow a pair of talent scouts with their stellar abilities. Songs include "My Heart Isn't in It" (Jack Lawrence), "It's Love, Love, Love" (Mack David, Joan Whitney, Alex Kramer), "When They Ask about You" (Sammy Stept), "Jumpin' at the Jubilee" (Ben Carter, Mayes Marshall), "Taking Care of You" (Lou Brown, Harry Akst), "Where Am I Without You?" (Don Raye, Gene De Paul), "Two Hearts in the Dark" (Dave Franklin), "Somewhere This Side of Heaven," "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel."