The best Jim Sclavunos’s movies

Documents the writing, recording and performing of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ sixteenth studio album, Skeleton Tree.

Tom Waits is one of the most original musicians of the last five decades. Renowned for his gravelly voice and dazzling mix of musical styles, he's also one of modern music's most enigmatic and influential artists. Using rare archive, audio recordings and interviews, this film is a bewitching after-hours trip through the surreal, moonlit world of Waits' music - a portrait of a pioneering musician and his unique, alternative American songbook.

From myth to legend Rowland Howard appeared on the early Melbourne punk scene like a phantom out of Kafkaesque Prague or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A beautifully gaunt and gothic aristocrat, the unique distinctive fury of his guitar style shot him directly into the imagination of a generation. He was impeccable, the austerity of his artistry embodied in his finely wrought form, his obscure tastes and his intelligently wry wit. He radiated a searing personal integrity that never seemed to tarnish. Despite the trials and tribulations of his career, in an age of makeover and reinvention, Rowland Howard never ‘sold out’. With recent and moving interviews, archival interviews and other fascinating and original footage, AUTOLUMINESCENT traces the life of Rowland S Howard. Capturing moments with the man himself and intimate missives from those who knew him behind closed doors; words and images etch light into what has always been the mysterious dark.

From their roots as a brutal, confrontational industrial band, through breakups and chaos, to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there's been one constant since its formation in 1982--singer, songwriter Michael Gira. 'Where Does a Body End?' is a SWANS documentary with unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs. An unfiltered story of a life in the arts, frequent difficulty spanning decades without a safety net, creating work because Gira says "What else am I going to do?"

The centerpiece of this DVD is a 90-minute concert by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, performing live in Lyon, France, in the summer of 2001 during a European tour in support of the album No More Shall We Part. Its mature and emotive textures dominate this show, which means if you're hoping to see Cave whipping himself into a frenzy while Blixa Bargeld rattles the walls with his guitar, well, you're out of luck. However, this footage proves that, in more subtle form, Cave is still a magnetic and compelling performer and that the Bad Seeds have grown into a singularly gifted ensemble who bring just the right amount of drama and force to Cave's superb songs (with guitarist Mick Harvey and violinist Warren Ellis taking top honors at this performance). Beautifully shot, intelligently edited, and boasting crisp and full-bodied audio, God Is in the House is a fine document of Cave and his collaborators on a good night.

1. Hiding All Away 2. Messiah Ward 3. Easy Money 4. Supernaturally 5. The Lyre of Orpheus 6. Babe, You Turn Me On 7. Nature Boy 8. Get Ready for Love 9. Carry Me 10. There She Goes, My Beautiful World 11. God Is in the House 12. Red Right Hand 13. The Ship Song 14. Stagger Lee 15. Wonderful Life 16. Nobody's Baby Now 17. Bring It On 18. Sad Waters 19. Watching Alice 20. Christina the Astonishing 21. Wild World