WE WANT THE FUNK!

Stanley Nelson, Nicole London | USA 2025 | 80′ | OV

This musical journey traces the development of Funk from its roots in African music, Soul and Jazz, via James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic, Labelle and Manu Dibango, to its pioneering influences on new wave and hip-hop. Plausible contextualisations into the political life of American society are achieved here, as are juicy anecdotes and musical explanations that make even the most nimble YouTube tutorials pale in comparison, thanks to a colourful array of illustrious contributors (Fred Wesley, George Clinton, Nona Hendryx and many more), famous contemporary witnesses (e.g. David Byrne) and eloquent experts (including Questlove) – And even more stars, the likes of David Bowie, Prince, Fela Kuti, Elton John and many more, greet us from the archives!

Here, the cinema seat becomes a dance floor, here the party starts right away in the cinema and not after the show – and what could happen then is that Funkadelic’s famous invitation is realised in reverse: Free your ass, your mind will follow!