Here
is a list of
Johnny's known participation in music-related documentaries.
Please click images to enlarge.
1) Where
It's At: The
Rolling Stone State of the Union (1998)
This
television documentary was shown on ABC on May 21, 1998.
Johnny is credited on
IMDb
as a participant. Here is a description found by Maggy from
the initial airing:
It's about
what's up. Rolling
Stone magazine is turning 30, and to note that, publisher Jann Wenner
has produced a two-hour special titled Where It's At: The Rolling Stone
State of the Union. Airing at 9 tonight on ABC, Where It's At
(named for the catchy Beck tune) examines pop culture and the attitudes
of today's youth _ as opposed to yesterday's youth, who may not relate
to what's being said but will get to hear a lot of Bruce Springsteen.
Younger viewers get Marilyn Manson, the most surprising commentator on
the show, plus Sean "Puffy" Combs and Fiona Apple, Jewel and Beck.
The film poses a lot of questions about spirituality, values,
identity and hope. Marilyn Manson talks about religion; Bruce
Springsteen, Fiona Apple and Johnny Depp about fame; Jewel on body
image; Tom Wolfe, Salt-n-Pepa and Rosie Perez on sex and love.
In addition to speaking about fame, Johnny comments on the violence
facing today's youth, as well as his love and value of music.
2) Music
Behind the
Scenes (2001)
This is a listing on
IMDb
that includes Johnny (as archive footage) in the credits. It
appears to be a
miniseries that aired in the UK in 2001 and in Finland in 2004.
I
am looking for more information about this show!
3) Taraf
de Haïdouks
Live At Union Chapel,
from The
Continuing
Adventures Of Taraf de Haïdouks:
The DVD
(2004)
Taraf de Ha
ïdouks
is a Romani band with whom Johnny
appeared in the 2000 Sally Potter film,
The Man Who Cried.
This part interview, part performance film features
Johnny in three segments, discussing the first time he met Taraf de Ha
ïdouks,
turning on musician friends of his to the band, and specifically, the
reactions of Iggy Pop and Jim Jarmusch upon seeing Taraf for the first
time.
4) Gypsy
Caravan AKA
When the Road Bends: Tales of a
Gypsy Caravan (2006)
Screened on May 1, 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film is
a brief look into Romani culture and Rom (Gypsies) from around the
globe as five famous Romani groups (Esma Redzepova, Maharaja, Fanfare
Ciocarlia, Taraf de Ha
ïdouks,
and Antonio el Pipa Flamenco Ensemble) tour the USA and
Canada. The film visits their
families at home in Spain, India, Macedonia and Romania.
Johnny
participates in this film discussing Taraf de Ha
ïdouks
.
The film has been released in the US, Europe and Japan, and
continues to screen in select theaters. It also aired on
television on select PBS
stations in the spring of 2008.
The DVD was released in Region 2 in April of 2008 and
Region 1 on August 26, 2008. Extra bonus materials include an
extended 11 minute interview with Johnny.
5) Joe
Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)
Made its
debut January 20, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. The
film celebrates the life of the late legendary frontman of The Clash
and more recently The Mescaleros. The film was made by Julien Temple.
Johnny is one of the contributors, along with former Clash members Mick
Jones and Topper Headon, and many other noted musicians and actors such
as Bono, Steve Jones, John Cusack and Matt Dillon. Most of
the
interviews were conducted in front of a bonfire.
The film had additional screenings
across the pond,
including
the Dublin
Film Festival in February of 2007, a number of screenings on May 9,
"Joe Strummer Day," and at Cannes (as an unofficial screening?)
I
t
was
released theatrically in the UK on May 18, 2007. It also had
US
screenings in Brooklyn, Seattle and LA. The
film was released in the US via Independent Film Channel on
November 2, 2007, and had a limited
theater run through December 2007. In 2007, the film won the British Independent Film Award for Best British Documentary.
The Region 2 DVD was released on Sept.
17, 2007, and the Region 1 DVD was released on July 8, 2008.
Screencaps thanks to Liz/Endora:
6) Runnin'
Down A Dream (2007)
This documentary about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is
directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Johnny is one of the participants,
discussing the band in general, his participation in the video for Into
The Great Wide Open, and inviting the band to play opening night at the
Viper Room.
The 238 minute film was shown at the
New
York Film Festival on
Oct. 14, 2007, in select theaters on Oct. 15, and on the Sundance
Channel on Oct.
29. It was released as a 3DVD/CD bundle exclusively at Best
Buy stores on October 16, 2007.
A
2 DVD version of the film, with 3 live bonus performances not included
in the Best Buy package, was released on October 28, 2008. The
film won a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.
Petty says (according to an unsourced
quote from a Petty message board):
"It
looks pretty great. I think he's mostly based it around the concert we
did in Gainesville (Florida) in September. It sort of goes into
flashbacks, with lots of archival footage, and then just keeps coming
back to the present, whether it's the rehearsals or on the airplane or
at the concert in Gainesville."
Johnny's
past ties to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers include
starring in the Into The Great Wide Open video and endorsement of the
band on MTV in the early 90's.
7) Rock
And A Hard
Place: Another Night At The Agora (2008)
This documentary is about the South Florida music scene
of the late 70's and early 80's, about Sheila Witkin as one of the
driving forces of that scene, and about the Memorial Reunion Concert
that was held in her memory on January 28, 2007 in Pompano Beach, FL.
Johnny
participated in this show as a member of The Kids. A second
show was also held on May 20, 2007 at The Scene in
Pompano Beach to capture additional footage from Z-Cars, The Cichlids,
and Charlie Pickett for inclusion in this documentary. The
film had its World Premiere on April 12, 2008, at the
Palm Beach International Film Festival in Mizner Park, FL, with a
second screening on April 17. The film also had 4
screenings at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival from Aug.
29-Aug. 31, 2008, including brand new interview footage of all four Kids
together.
As of July 2009, there has not yet been any word on
additional screenings, a theatrical release, or a DVD release.
8) When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors (2009)
Johnny narrates this film about the legendary band
The Doors. The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2009, with a temporary narration
by the director, Tom DiCillo. It also screened with DiCillo's
narration on
February 7 at the Berlin Film Festival, where the official announcement
was made that Johnny would narrate the final version of the film.
DiCillo then made the
decision not to screen the film again until Johnny's contribution was
added, forcing him to pull out of the South By Southwest Film Festival
in March. Johnny's recording was done sometime between about
March 17 and May 20, 2009. The film screened for the first
time
with his narration on June 21, 2009 at the Los Angeles Film
Festival, with an additional screening on June 24. DiCillo lauds Johnny's narration as
"fantastic" and "crucial": "He brings something very personal to the
film." "[Johnny]
had been my first choice. My sense was always that the film needed a
real actor to perform the narration, someone who could genuinely relate
to the Doors and tell the story as if it really meant something to him.
He has succeeded." After attending the screening in Deauville, DiCillo further stated, "Depp’s
narration is even stronger than I’d remembered. His presence in
the film is quiet, assured, emotional and powerfully intimate."
When You're Strange
is the first feature documentary about this legendary band. The
film contains some never before seen footage of The Doors, who were
together from 1965 through Morrison's death in 1971. It also
contains rare footage from Morrison's experimental film, HWY, taken from the original 35 mm negative.
The film had a private buyers' screening in NYC on
June 30 and also one in Paris at around the same time. The film
has secured French
theatrical distribution rights for the film through a company called
MK2, and British distribution through The Works UK Distribution.
There is much
interest in the film among other distributors in the US and abroad,
with hopes for some news about a theatrical release soon.
When You're Strange
will next screen at the
Mar del Plata (Argentina) Int'l Film Festival, on November 11 and 13, 2009.
Stay tuned by checking the Johnny Depp Rocks! home page for any breaking news, including additional upcoming film festivals and screenings, or plans for a theatrical release!
Music Documentaries without
Johnny's planned participation
1) Do
It For Johnny
(2007)
This is a documentary about
the quest of filmmakers Haylar Garcia and Darcy Grabowski to bring a
screenplay (entitled Narcophonic,
the Ballad of Bad Bax) about guitar maker
Scott Baxendale to Johnny. It first screened at the Bug
Theatre in Denver Colorado on Sunday, January 21, 2007 and had its official premiere
at the 22nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 28. During 2007, the film was
also
an official selection for the Vail, Sonoma Valley and Hollywood Film Festivals and
won Best Documentary at the Rainier Independent Film Festival.
In late 2008, Garcia told blogtalkradio host Betty
Jo Tucker that the film has several distributors for foreign release,
and that they will be distributing the film themselves in the US.
He had expected the film to be available in the US shortly after
the New Year, but as of July 2009 there has been no further news.
Stay tuned!
The documentary features
information about Johnny's musical history. It includes an
interview with Ringo Jukes from
the Rock City Angels,
and reportedly features 3 RCA songs: Mary (cowritten by Johnny), Beyond
Babylon and Hell's Kitchen.
if you have any additions, or corrections, thanks!