May 23 - May 27, 2024

Don't Knock the Rock 2024

Festival | The return of the iconic festival includes 3 LA premieres and 18 guests including filmmakers Andrew Reich, Issac Gale, Ryan Olson, Stuart Swezey, Ondi and David Timoner and Allan Arkush, musicians Jeff and Steve McDonald, Swamp Dogg, Moogstar, Dr. Jeri and more!

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

The American Cinematheque is proud to present the return of Don’t Knock the Rock, a music-driven documentary and narrative film festival founded in 2003 by filmmaker Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING, GRACE OF MY HEART, MI VIDA LOCA) and musician/music supervisor Tiffany Anders (RESERVATION DOGS, PEN15,  BEEF). Paying special attention not only to the icons and legends in music history but also to artists who blazed trails but may have fallen into obscurity, Don’t Knock The Rock brings fascinating stories both big and small for music and film lovers alike. The return of the iconic festival includes 3 LA premieres and 18 guests including filmmakers Andrew Reich, Issac Gale, Ryan Olson, Stuart Swezey, Ondi and David Timoner and Allan Arkush, musicians Jeff and Steve McDonald, Swamp Dogg, Moogstar, Dr. Jeri and more!

Spanning across seven decades and celebrating the consistent overlapping of film and music, ‘Don’t Knock the Rock’ opens with the LA Premiere of BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY, a documentary determined to make the case for Redd Kross as the seminal West Coast band of the last half century, whose influence can be felt across a multitude of music genres. On opening night, filmmaker Andrew Reich will be joined by band members Jeff and Steve McDonald in-person for a Q&A following the screening, while filmmaker Andrew Reich will return to introduce the film prior to the film’s closing night showing.

Additional LA Premieres are SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED, which explores the life and friendship of cult musician Swamp Dogg and his housemates Moogstar and Guitar Shorty, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Issac Gale and Ryan Olson and Swamp Dogg, Moogstar and Dr. Jeri; DORY PREVIN: ON MY WAY TO WHERE, a documentary exploring the complex life of Dory Previn, a pivotal contributor to Hollywood musicals who later became an influential cult singer-songwriter in her own right, and who in the wake of her schizophrenia diagnosis, came to revolutionize how we understand mental health. Filmmakers Julia Greenberg and Diana Dilworth will be participating in a post-screening Q&A to discuss the film, and Previn’s life, further.

Featuring more filmmakers and musicians, including filmmaker Stuart Swezey in-person for DESOLATION CENTER, the untold story of a series of Reagan-era guerrilla punk and industrial desert happenings in Southern California that are now recognized as the inspiration for Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella; filmmakers Ondi and David Timoner for DIG! XX, the 20th anniversary extended edition of the rock documentary DIG! which explores the intersection between art and commerce through the stories of friendship and rivalry of two bands and filmmaker Allan Arkush in-person for GET CRAZY, an anarchic comedy that brings the sex, drugs and rock ’n roll.

Films featured in the return of ‘Don’t Knock the Rock’ include JERRY LEE-LEWIS – TROUBLE IN MIND, an electrifying glimpse into the complex life and thrilling, unparalleled performances of one of rock & roll’s first great practitioner; SMITHEREENS, the 1980’s cult-classic which sees Susan Berman play a young woman who escapes her native New Jersey for the bright lights of New York City in order to reinvent herself and find the stardom she yearns for as a figure in the city’s exploding punk music scene; DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, another film representative of Susan Seidelman’s layered portraits of women reinventing themselves; THIS IS THE LIFE, a documentary exploring “The Good Life” emcees and the alternative music movement they developed; THE PLASTIC DOME OF NORMA JEAN, a tragedy set in the magical pastoral Ozark countryside about a teenage girl struggling with compromising the future to attend to her Rock n’ Roll aspirations; and the festival’s namesake, DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK with legendary DJ Alan Freed, the classic story about a disc jockey doing his best to convince teenagers’ parents that rock n’ roll is harmless and that they shouldn’t ‘knock the rock.’

Read More about BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY
THU MAY 23, 2024

7:00 PM

BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmaker Andrew Reich and Redd Kross members Jeff and Steve McDonald. Moderated by Jim Hemphill.

L.A. Premiere!

Read More about "Sean DeLear Superstar” / DESOLATION CENTER
THU MAY 23, 2024

10:00 PM

"Sean DeLear Superstar” / DESOLATION CENTER

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Pre-screening Q&A with filmmaker Stuart Swezey, co-producer Mariska Leyssius and writer and editor Tyler Hubby. Moderated by Lyndsey Parker.

Opening Night of ‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about DIG! XX
FRI MAY 24, 2024

7:00 PM

DIG! XX

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmakers Ondi Timoner and David Timoner and musician Joel Gion. Moderated by James Ponsoldt.

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about DIG! XX
FRI MAY 24, 2024

10:00 PM

DIG! XX

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Introduction by filmmakers Ondi and David Timoner and musician Joel Gion

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about SMITHEREENS
SAT MAY 25, 2024

1:00 PM

SMITHEREENS

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with actor Susan BermanModerated by Lyndsey Parker.

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN
SAT MAY 25, 2024

4:00 PM

DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Introduction by producer Sarah Pillsbury

Pre-recorded Q&A with filmmaker Susan Seidelman. Moderated by Allison Anders.

Read More about THIS IS THE LIFE
SAT MAY 25, 2024

7:00 PM

THIS IS THE LIFE

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | ‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about THE PLASTIC DOME OF NORMA JEAN
SAT MAY 25, 2024

10:00 PM

THE PLASTIC DOME OF NORMA JEAN

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 Pre-screening Q&A with Head of the UCLA Film & Television Archive Research and Study Center Maya Smuckler and K.J. Relth-Miller, Director, Film Programs, Academy Museum. Moderated by Allison Anders.

Digital presentation of the restored version courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive

Read More about DON'T KNOCK THE ROCK
SUN MAY 26, 2024

1:00 PM

DON'T KNOCK THE ROCK

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Introduction by Lance Freed

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’ and ‘Sunday Print Edition’

Read More about DORY PREVIN: ON MY WAY TO WHERE
SUN MAY 26, 2024

4:00 PM

DORY PREVIN: ON MY WAY TO WHERE

$8.00 (member); $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmakers Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth. Moderated by Jessica Hundley.

L.A. Premiere!

Read More about JERRY LEE LEWIS — TROUBLE IN MIND
SUN MAY 26, 2024

7:00 PM

JERRY LEE LEWIS — TROUBLE IN MIND

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Introduction by Chris Morris. Q&A with Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke. Moderated by Allison and Tiffany Anders.

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about GET CRAZY
SUN MAY 26, 2024

10:00 PM

GET CRAZY

$8.00 (member); $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmaker Allan Arkush. Moderated by Chris Morris.

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’

Read More about SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED
MON MAY 27, 2024

7:00 PM

SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Q&A with filmmakers Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson and musicians SWAMP DOGG, Moogstar, and Dr. Jeri Williams. Moderated by Justin Richmond.

L.A. Premiere!

Read More about BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY
MON MAY 27, 2024

10:00 PM

BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY

$8.00 (member) ; $13.00 (general admission)

Los Feliz 3 | Pre-screening Q&A with filmmaker Andrew Reich and Redd Kross Members Jeff and Steve McDonald. Moderated by Lyndsey Parker.

‘Don’t Knock the Rock’