As part of Slacker Canadian Music Week, a series of excellent music docs will screen at TIFF Bell Lightbox and NFB Cinema. From Paul Simon to 90s grunge to a Girl Talk-inspired romp through NYC, these are the films we’re most excited to check out.

Wednesday, March 21st

7 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Paul Simon: Under African Skies
This documentary explores Paul Simon’s decision, in 1985, to play a concert in South Africa, breaking a UN boycott that was put in place to protest apartheid. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger heads back to South Africa with Simon, reuniting him with many of the artists who worked on Graceland. The film features interviews with Simon, the musicians, the co-founder of Artists Against Apartheid, and films the 25th anniversary concert Simon performed on the trip. Buy advance tickets here.

9:45 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Andrew Bird: Fever Year
Director Xan Aranda follows the singer-songwriter through a year when, despite suffering almost constant illness, he was relentlessly touring and creating. A hybrid documentary-concert film and an intimate look at a beloved artist, there are no plans to release the doc on video, so see it while you can! Buy advance tickets here.

Thursday, March 22nd

7 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sound It Out
Here’s a depressing statistic: Over the past five years, an independent record store has closed every three days in the UK. This documentary captures Sound It Out Records, the last surviving record shop in a small town in Northern England. Director Jeanie Finlay looks at the role this shop plays in a rough community. Buy advance tickets here.

Friday, March 23rd

7 pm at NFB Cinema 
Kevin
In Kevin, Mumblecore heroes the Duplass Brothers (Cyrus, Baghead) try their hand at documentary filmmaking for the first time. In early-90s Austin, Kevin was their hero, a musician with a playful sense of spirituality. But in 1995, he mysteriously disappeared. The film is preceded by short doc Last Music Man, a profile of local promoter Dan Burke, exploring his impact on the Toronto music scene, his former incarnation as a journalist, and his struggle with drug addiction, and Man and Machine: A Naked Robotic Love Story. Buy advance tickets here.

9 pm at NFB Cinema
Hit So Hard
This is a no-holds-barred portrait of Hole drummer Patty Schemel, a close friend of Kurt Cobain and one of the key players of the slacker generation, whose struggles and success defined a decade. Buy advance tickets here.

Saturday, March 24th

4 pm at NFB Cinema
The Muppet Movie
There will be a very special guest in attendance for this screening, composer Paul Williams. A Q & A with Williams will follow the film, and he will discuss working with Jim Henson and writing some of the most memorable songs of all time. Buy advance tickets here.

7 pm at NFB Cinema
Parallax Sounds
This is a work-in-progress screening of a film that looks at the underground Chicago music scene in the 90s, and combines moments in the city with interviews from important musicians like Steve Albini, Ian Williams, David Grubbs, Damon Locks, Ken Vandermark, and Azita Youssefi. Buy advance tickets here.

9:15 pm at NFB Cinema
Girl Walk // All Day
This feature-length dance music video, set to Girl Talk’s album All Day, was shot entirely in public spaces and funded entirely through crowdsourcing. Three dancers take to the streets of New York City, and inspire its citizens to dance. Buy advance tickets here.

~ Haley Cullingham