Festival!

Aroview: A valuable time-capsule of the mid-1960s US folk movement, which browses performances from the Newport Folk Festival in the 1963-66 era, including revival performers like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Donovan, Judy Collins and traditional musicians such as Son House, Almeda Riddle and Fred McDowell.

Caught in nostalgic black-and-white, dir. Lerner builds a skillful montage demostrating the subtle links between old and new music, revealing some eccentric personalities and musical virtuosos along the way. Even if some of the earnestness now seems cringeworthy (and has since been satirised in A MIGHTY WIND), the depth of the performers' social concern and love of music is strongly communicated.

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