News

Just five months before his death last week, Jonathan Demme was onstage at the Doc NYC annual Visionaries Tribute lunch in New York, where he delivered a gracious speech after receiving a lifetime achievement award for documentary filmmaking. In his speech, Demme mostly talked about other filmmakers and champions of documentary film that were also in the room.

Read More: Jonathan Demme and Performance: 10 Videos That Capture His Musical Genius

“There’s a lot of heroes here,” Demme said. “Stanley Nelson, Alex Gibney, Michael Moore. This is just like a deluge of great documentary filmmakers.” Nelson also received a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony.

Demme also made a point to thank the executives, producers and distributors he’s known and worked with over the years, including Molly Thompson, the founder and head of A&E IndieFilms, longtime producer and distributor Ira Deutchman, and Doc NYC’s executive director Rapheala...

Jonathan Demme has passed away at age 73, leaving behind a legacy of amazing films. Thanks to modern technology, you can now host your own Demme film festival by streaming many of his biggest hits. Check out where to stream the cream of the crop below.

Read More: Jonathan Demme Remembered: Barry Jenkins, Ron Howard, Edgar Wright & More Mourn On Twitter

Netflix:

*”The Manchurian Candidate” (2004) — Watch it Here

*”Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids” (2016) — Watch it Here

Amazon Prime Video:

*”Who Am I This Time?” (from “PBS’ American Playhouse”) (1982) — Watch it Here

FilmStruck:

*”A Master Builder” (2014) — Watch it Here

Amazon Video Rental:

*”Citizen’s Band” (1977) — Rent it Here

*”Stop Making Sense” (1984) — Rent it Here

*”Swing Shift” (1984) — Rent it Here

*”Married To The Mob” (1988) — Rent it Here

*”The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) — Rent it Here

*”Philadelphia” (1993) — Rent it Here

*”Beloved” (1998) — Rent it Here

*”Storefront Hitchcock” (1998) — Rent it Here

*”The Truth About Charlie...

Jonathan Demme's death at the age of 73 prompted an outpouring of online memorials from film lovers who remembered the Oscar-winning director for his varied career: everything from the chilling, intelligent thriller The Silence of the Lambs to the brittle 2008 indie drama Rachel Getting Married. But for music fans, those highlights don't even scratch the surface of what cemented his legacy.

It's not hyperbole to say that Demme was arguably the greatest concert filmmaker ever – look at the number of them that he made, the range of artists he chronicled...

Somewhat similar in approach to Stop Making Sense and Storefront Hitchcock, Demme focuses on the uniqueness of the performances of Avitabile's music. A Neapolitan saxophonist and vocalist who creates intricate, multiethnic jazz compositions, Avitabile possesses a level of songwriting genius that exists on a comparable intellectual plane to David Byrne. Like Byrne, Avitabile's greatest strength is in his ability to choose teams of collaborators from around the world, then fuse them together in the recording of a song. Avitabile is well known for his thorough knowledge of world music -- specifically the instruments and rhythmic structures -- and ability to use that information in the development of intriguing collaborations. Whether or not you recognize names such as Eliades Ochoa, Naseer Shamma, Daby Touré, Trilok Gurtu and Amal Murkus does not really matter, Enzo Avitabile is about the magic that happens when Avitable creates music with these talented people.

Over the centuries, Italy has contributed countless things to international culture. It was of course, the center of the Roman empire, the birthplace of the Renaissance and Da Vinci, and gave the world Vivaldi, Verdi, Dante, Calvino, Fellini and Antonioni. But at least in the 20th and 21st century, music was not its strongest suit, as such. The county did birth the great film composer Ennio Morricone, and electronic pioneer Giorgio Moroder and the Italo Disco movement, but the number of Italian popular musicians who became internationally famous can, for the most part, be counted on the fingers of one hand. But Jonathan Demme is out to change that. Few need to question the “Silence of the Lambs” director’s credentials as a muso at this point -- he’s made a number of music documentaries over the last thirty years, including “Storefront Hitchcock,” four films on Neil Young, and...