Wild combination: A portrait of Arthur Russell

Matt Wolf’s hypnotic documentary is a visually experimental tone poem and homage to avant-garde cellist and dance-music producer Arthur Russell. Leaving his childhood Iowa in the 1960’s, Russell moves to New York after spending time at a Buddhist commune in San Francisco. In The Big Apple he starts collaborating with other seminal composers, such as Phillip Glass. Simultaneously, working under different aliases, he creates the wildest club music of the era, spearheading the sound that comes to define the New York underground disco scene.

In the film, Wolf mixes archival footage and abstract images with comments from people close to Russell. He also puts the artist’s importance into a contemporary context. The film captures the joyous hedonism of New York in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but also gives a great insight into Russell’s life and the paranoia and perfectionism that tormented him.

When he died of AIDS in 1992 his name and music fell into obscurity. But this cinematic love letter will definitely help people discover the icon that is Arthur Russell.

Swedish Premiere