Robert Mugge
Robert Mugge | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Edwin Mugge May 8, 1950 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker and professor |
Years active | 1970s to present |
Spouse | Diana Zelman |
Website | www.robertmugge.com |
Robert Mugge (born May 8, 1950) is an American documentary film maker. He has focused primarily on films about music[1] and musicians, but some of his earliest films were not music focused and he is now continuing to branch out as his interests and work evolve.[2]
Biography
Robert Mugge was born in
Mugge attended
For approximately four decades, Mugge has worked as an independent producer-director-writer-editor, obtaining financing for his film and television projects from a wide variety of national and international funders.
Body of work
Robert Mugge's first documentary, directed in 1972 on a grant from the
In 1990/1991, with funding from Dave Stewart of Eurythmics and Britain's Channel 4, Mugge directed (for producers Eileen Gregory and John Stewart) Deep Blues, a 91-minute exploration of Mississippi blues made in collaboration with music writer Robert Palmer.[2][3] In 1992, with funding from BMG Video and others, he directed Pride And Joy: The Story Of Alligator Records, a portrait of Bruce Iglauer's contemporary blues label.[23] In 1993/1994, with funding again from BMG Video and others, he directed three films simultaneously: the 101-minute Gather At The River: A Bluegrass Celebration;[5] the 71-minute The Kingdom Of Zydeco;[4] and the 86-minute True Believers: The Musical Family Of Rounder Records.[23] In 1996, with funding from Margaritaville Records, he directed Iguanas In The House, a 27-minute film about New Orleans band The Iguanas. In 1998/1999, with funding from WinStar Entertainment and the support of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, he directed Hellhounds On My Trail: The Afterlife Of Robert Johnson, a look at the lasting influence of blues legend Robert Johnson. In 1999/2000, with funding from the State of Louisiana, he directed the 2-hour Rhythm ’n’ Bayous: A Road Map To Louisiana Music.[12] In 2002, with funding from Starz Entertainment Group, he directed Last Of The Mississippi Jukes starring Morgan Freeman and others.[12]
In 2003, while working for Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Mugge directed thirteen 60-second mini-movies about Mississippi blues titled Blues Breaks.[2] That same year at MPB, he directed A Night At Club Ebony (completed in 2006 but never released due to rights issues), an 86-minute history of a legendary Delta concert venue, and an accompanying 48-minute concert film titled The Road Home: B.B. King In Indianola (also still unreleased). In 2004/2005, while working for MPB's Foundation for Public Broadcasting in Mississippi, he directed Blues Divas, a 2-hour film and 8-hour TV series starring Morgan Freeman, Odetta, Mavis Staples, and many others.[19] Those same years, while working for MPB's Foundation, he also directed Memphis Blues Again: The 25th Anniversary W.C. Handy Blues Awards, an 87-minute concert film never released due to rights issues. In 2005/2006, with funding from Starz Entertainment Group, he directed (and produced with his new partner Diana Zelman) New Orleans Music In Exile, a 2-hour film about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans music community.[12] In 2007, he was commissioned to direct Deep Sea Blues, a 2-hour record of the January 2007 Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise to the Caribbean.[18][22] In 2010, he directed Big Shoes: Walking And Talking The Blues, A 90-minute Portrait Of Musician And Music Critic Ted Drozdowski And His Band Scissormen.[18] In 2010/2011, He Directed All Jams On Deck, a 96-minute look at blues jamming shot on the October 2010 Blues Cruise to Mexico.[18][22] Between 2011 and 2013, he directed Souvenirs Of Bucovina: A Romanian Survival Guide, a 2-hour film about a unique region now comprising Northern Romania and Southern Ukraine.[6][22] Between 2012 and 2014, he directed Giving Up The Ghosts: Closing Time At Doc’s Music Hall, an 80-minute film about Muncie, in doctor and musician John Peterson and a music and arts venue he founded.[22] Between 2012 and 2015, with partial funding from the Ball Brothers Foundation, he directed Steve Bell Storyteller: The Stories Behind The Stories, a 2-hour film and accompanying 4+1⁄2-hour oral history on the career of veteran ABC News correspondent and anchor Steve Bell. In 2014/2015, commissioned by Philadelphia's WXPN and with funding from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, he directed Zydeco Crossroads: A Tale Of Two Cities, an 87-minute look at the Creole music scene of Southwest Louisiana and a sequel to his earlier The Kingdom Of Zydeco. As part of the Zydeco Crossroads project, he also directed Rosie’s In The House Tonight, a 55-minute concert film starring Rosie Ledet.[22]
Mugge edits all of his own films and writes and produces most of them as well. Since 2005, he has produced all films in collaboration with Diana Zelman.[6][12][14][18][22]
Awards and honors
Year | Award |
---|---|
2008 | Mugge receives "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival for "Documentation of Southern Roots Music Culture in Film". |
2008 | Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise named one of the "50 Greatest Music Films Ever" by Time Out London. |
2007 | Mugge nominated for a United States Artists Fellowship. |
2007 | Deep Blues named one of the "Top 25 Music DVDs of All Time" by Rolling Stone. |
2007 | Deep Blues named an "Essential Southern Documentary" by the Oxford American. |
2007 | Robert Mugge and Diana Zelman receive "Big Easy Music Award" from Gambit Weekly for making New Orleans Music In Exile. |
2005 | Mugge receives Luminaria Award for Lifetime Achievement from Santa Fe Film Festival. |
2003 | Mugge's Mississippi Blues Film Trilogy (Deep Blues, Hellhounds On My Trail, and Last Of The Mississippi Jukes) selected as weeklong opening attraction for second screen of AFI Silver Theatre. |
1992 | Mugge receives "Keeping the Blues Alive in Film" Award from Blues Foundation in Memphis. |
1992 | Deep Blues is Mugge's fourth film to play Sundance Film Festival. |
1990 | Sonny Rollins's G-Man album (soundtrack for Mugge's 1986 film Saxophone Colossus) selected in Village Voice critics' poll as one of "Ten Best Jazz Albums of the 1980s". |
1989 | Entertaining The Troops receives Gold Special Jury Award from Houston Film Festival. |
1988 | Six of Robert Mugge's feature-length music documentaries broadcast as national PBS series titled Summer Night Music. |
1986 | Mugge receives Special Award "In Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in the Art of Film" from Denver International Film Festival. |
1985 | Gospel According To Al Green receives Gold Lone Star Award from Virgin Islands International Film Festival. |
1978 | Amateur Night At City Hall receives Silver Hugo Award from Chicago International Film Festival. |
Filmography
Year | Film Title | Subject |
---|---|---|
1973 | Frostburg | Mining Town |
1976 | George Crumb: Voice of the Whale | George Crumb |
1978 | Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo | City Politics |
1980 | Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise | Afrofuturism |
1982 | Black Wax | Gil Scott-Heron |
1983 | Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie | Sunsplash |
1984 | Gospel According to Al Green | Al Green |
1985 | The Return of Rubén Blades | Rubén Blades |
1986 | Saxophone Colossus | Sonny Rollins |
1987 | Hawaiian Rainbow | Hawaiian Music
|
1988 | Entertaining the Troops | Bob Hope, etc. |
1989 | Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture | Hawaiian Dance |
1991 | Deep Blues |
Delta Blues
|
1992 | Pride and Joy: The Story of Alligator Records | Alligator Records |
1994 | Gather at the River: A Bluegrass Celebration | Bluegrass Music
|
1994 | The Kingdom of Zydeco | Zydeco |
1994 | True Believers: The Musical Family of Rounder Records | Rounder Records |
1996 | Iguanas in the House | Roots Music |
1999 | Hellhounds on My Trail: The Afterlife of Robert Johnson | Robert Johnson
|
2000 | Rhythm 'n' Bayous: A Road Map to Louisiana Music | Music of Louisiana |
2003 | Last of the Mississippi Jukes | Blues Venues |
2003 | Blues Breaks | Blues Culture |
2004 | Blues Divas | Blues Women |
2005 | Memphis Blues Again: The 25th Anniversary W. C. Handy Blues Awards (unreleased) | Blues Music Award
|
2006 | New Orleans Music in Exile | Music of New Orleans |
2006 | A Night at Club Ebony (unreleased) | Delta Venue |
2007 | Deep Sea Blues | Blues Cruise |
2010 | Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues | Scissormen |
2011 | All Jams On Deck | Blues Jamming |
2013 | Souvenirs of Bucovina: A Romanian Survival Guide | Eastern Europe |
2014 | Giving Up The Ghosts: Closing Time at Doc’s Music Hall | Music Venue |
2015 | Steve Bell Storyteller: The Stories Behind the Stories | Steve Bell, Journalism |
2015 | Rosie’s in the House Tonight | Rosie Ledet |
2015 | Zydeco Crossroads: A Tale of Two Cities | Creole Culture |
References
- ISBN 9780826417510. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Briton, JoBeth (September 15, 1999). "Getting the Picture: The Films of Robert Mugge to be Screened at Bluestock in Memphis, Oct. 1". Little Rock Free Press.
- ^ a b c Beifuss, John (October 23, 1998). "Filmmaker Mugge tracks music to where it lives". The Commercial Appeal: C1.
- ^ a b Wald, Elijah (August 26, 1994). "Roots Made Reel". The Boston Globe.
- ^ a b Cahill, Greg (July 20, 1995). "Music Maker: Mugge offers a thinking man's alternative to music videos". The Sonoma County Independent.
- ^ a b c d Carlson, John (March 24, 2012). "Quest for knowledge, adventure drives filmmaker Bob Mugge". Muncie Star Press.
- ^ "Obituaries-Robert Mugge; Health Statistician Studied Privacy Issues". Washington Post. April 20, 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ a b c Rea, Stephen (July 1990). "Robert Mugge Faces the Music". Applause (WHYY): 19.
- ^ a b c Provicer, Stephen; Paul, Donna (May 1986). "Robert Mugge". Stuff (Boston): 13.
- ^ a b Rea, Stephen (June 27, 1995). "Filmmaker celebrates the power of regional music". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ^ a b c Markowitz, Andy (August 21, 1986). "University graduate mixes music and film to unearth the offbeat". The Diamondback. U. of MD, College Park.
- ^ a b c d e f Terrell, Stephen (December 2, 2005). "Robert Mugge's Musical Spirit". The Santa Fe New Mexican.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Janis (February 22, 1987). "Robert Mugge: Filming musical portraits". The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine.
- ^ a b c Rose, Michael (Summer 2008). "Mugge Shots: Capturing American Roots Music on Film". Documentary. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4502-0644-0.
- ^ Penn, Roberta (July 11, 2000). Robert Mugge: Getting to the Roots of American Music.
- ^ ISBN 0879058617.
- ^ a b c d e f Markowitz, Andy. "Robert Mugge's Blues". Music Film Web. MusicFilmWeb LLC. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ a b Hanson, Lynette (March 30, 2005). "Robert Mugge". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ a b Adams, Sam (January 27, 2000). "Sing a Simple Song". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ Bennett, Karen (August 1988). "Bob Mugge: Documenting the Childlike and the Immortal". Musician.
- ^ a b c d e f g "MVD Entertertainment Group to Release the Films of Robert Mugge". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ a b Marine, Craig (September 18, 1994). "Real to Reel: Robert Mugge's Soulful Documentaries Celebrate the Music of America's Roots". San Francisco Examiner Magazine.