​dweller to present film series spotlighting dance music’s Black origins

New York festival and club night dweller has curated a series of films alongside The Criterion Channel spotlighting the Black origins of dance music.

The 13-film collection, titled Radical Dreams/Underground Sounds, will be streamed by The Criterion Channel throughout February, available only to those in the US and Canada.

The collection of short and feature-length films was announced by Criterion last week and will come in the form of documentaries and experimental works, entirely curated by dweller.

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Radical Dreams/Underground Sounds contains “films that explore Black musical technology & imagination, and salute the dance floor as a site of Black joy, protest, personal transformation, & ecstatic communal liberation.”

“The Dweller festival celebrates the Black roots of electronic dance music, spotlighting musicians, producers, and DJs who created the sound that spread to clubs across the world and amplifying the artists who carry on their legacy,” Criterion writes.

Amongst the films set to be streamed during the programme is the 1996 feature-length film The Last Angel of History, a 45-minute documentary placing concepts of Afrofuturism as a metaphor for the displacement of Black culture.

Also set to be showcased is Josell Ramos’ Maestro, a 2003 documentary spotlighting legendary clubs such as Paradise Garage and The Loft with a nod to the likes of Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan.

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Jeff Mills’ Exhibitionist – Purpose Maker Mix from 2004 will also be showed in full – a 45-minute stream showing the techno pioneer live mixing across three turntables.

Radical Dreams/Underground Sounds will be streamed throughout the month of February and requires a subscription to The Criterion Channel to watch.

Last week, dweller announced that it will not hold an event in Berlin this year amidst strikes in Germany’s cultural sector in response treatment of those “opposing the Palestinian genocide” in Germany.

Find the full Radical Dreams/Underground Sounds programme schedule below, and subscribe to The Criterion Channel here to check out the series.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter

These narrative, documentary, & experimental works— curated in collaboration with @dwellerforever—contain films that explore Black musical technology & imagination, & salute the dance floor as a site of Black joy, protest, personal transformation, & ecstatic communal liberation. pic.twitter.com/mFE5ZmxcYL

— Criterion Channel (@criterionchannl) January 11, 2024