Billie Holiday: A Sensation
Top 5 Billed Cast
Self
Self
Self

Billie Holiday: A Sensation
HomePage
Overview
A documentary about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). There exist many myths and legends about the Jazz Singer Billie Holiday — one of the greatest voices of the last century. Most of them tell the story of the tragic victim of drugs, alcohol, men, color, or the circumstances of her upbringing. To some extent she contributed herself to these legends, especially in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues". In recent years, more and more records and reports have shown a different picture of her. These statements of confidants, colleagues and friends clean up with many of the legends and show a strong personality who has been anything but a pitiable victim. Billie Holiday was a strong-willed and determined person and a very complex personality who did not correspond to the classic victim type.
Release Date
2015-04-07
Average
8
Rating:
4.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
EnglishKeywords
Similar Movies
0.0Laila(en)
Laila Paattinen is a working woman. Tired of low-paying jobs, she completed a five-month course in dry-wall installation. Because she had chosen a non-traditional job for women, she ran into resistance in the marketplace. She finally solved her problems by opening her own dry-wall application business. A useful film for women seeking non-traditional jobs.
2.7Heute fängt mein Leben an(de)
For a lifetime, Hedi Ohlsen subordinated her needs to the family. She raised a child, took care of the house and learned the unloved profession of dental assistant for the sake of her husband Johannes. And although John has left her for a younger one, Hedi still cares for her elderly mother-in-law Agnes. As this now blesses the time and Hedi finally wants to start her own life, suddenly her pregnant daughter Leonie is attacking at the door. She has quit, no money and no father for the child Hedi is to raise for her. Is the dream of late freedom back?
6.0Bella Australia(de)
Bella enjoys her life in Berlin after separating from her husband Martin. She buys her daughter Lena a dress for their Abifeier and proposes a joint trip around the world. However, Lena has her own plans. Why else would she drop a meeting at the mall with the handsome cop Sebastian Berg, who still raves about bubbly Bella? But Bella's mind is not on men - she has Lena, that's enough for her.
0.0Die Bestatterin - Tote leben länger(de)
Mortician Lisa Taubenbaum is presented with the body of a woman named Dorothea Blum, who is said to have committed suicide. When an odd stranger insists on seeing the body and is murdered shortly afterwards, she takes a closer look at the case
4.0Indecency(en)
One of three friends who work in an advertising agency has a nervous breakdown. Upon her recovery, she embarks upon an affair with her former employer's husband, with deadly consequences.
0.0Face to Face: The Schappell Twins(en)
Two bodies and one mind, this is the extraordinary story of one pair of conjoined twins in today's world.
6.0Mr. X(en)
The image of a mysterious, solitary filmmaker - a cineaste maudit - who flees from both the media and the public, is unrelentingly bound to the figure of Leos Carax, in France. Elsewhere, the real focus is on his films and he is considered to be an icon of world cinema. Mr.X dives into the poetic and visionary world of an artist who was already a cult figure from his very first film. Punctuated by interviews and unseen footage, this documentary is most of all a fine-tuned exploration of the poetic and visionary world of Leos Carax, alias "Mr.X".
8.0Bring Us Your Women(en)
Bring Us Your Women is an international anthology dedicated to women and the pursuit of divinity and freedom. The project seeks to tell existing and re-imagined stories of historic and mythical individuals, each presenting a message of humanity that transcends gender and religion.
Hockshop Blues(en)
Musical performers put on a show in a pawn shop to convince a man to give them the money they need to buy back their instruments.
6.3Birth/Mother(ja)
Tarachime is a documentary film which observes 'life' through childbirth. Kawase Naomi, a film director working under the theme of family, life and death, presents the bond of life through her own childbirth experience. "First, I was planning to film from the day I conceived a child and to the moment I gave birth. But I realized, while filming, that this is not the story of "one life." In the end, the film sublimed to a higher stage on which we can witness the knot tying one life with another."
7.5Revolution: New Art for a New World(en)
Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich - pioneers who flourished in response to the challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years and silenced by Stalin's Socialist Realism.
4.0Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend(en)
Based on footage shot in the early seventies and lost for more than thirty years, we see and hear the young Bob Marley before he was famous. The film shows us the Wailers' first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican supergroup was still just a dream. Sit in as the albums of Bob Marley and the Wailers brought reggae music and Rasta consciousness to the world, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary culture.
0.0urgewald – Auf den Spuren des Geldes(de)
When nature is destroyed, climate targets are disregarded and human rights are violated, there is always a lot of money behind it. This is where urgewald comes in. Since 1992, the environmental and human rights organization has been revealing the sources of money behind destructive projects. Over 30 years ago, a handful of activists gathered around a table in a shared flat to form the basis of the organization. Since then, the small club in the Münsterland province has become a recognized, powerful organization.
7.3Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years(en)
Tells the story of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African-American (they preferred "colored") sisters who both lived past the age of 100. They grew up on a North Carolina college campus, the daughters of the first African-American Episcopal bishop, who was born a slave, and a woman with an inter-racial background. With the support of each other and their family, they survived encounters with racism and sexism in their own different ways. Sadie quietly and sweetly broke barriers to become the first African-American home-ec teacher in New York City, while Bessie, with her own brand of outspokenness, became the second African-American dentist in New York City. At the ages of 103 and 101, they told their story to Amy Hill Hearth, a white New York Times reporter who published an article about them. The overwhelming response launched a bestselling book, a Broadway play, and this film.
6.9Beyond Silence(de)
Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.
Jedi Junior High(en)
In 2009, students of all walks of life at the Arts & Learning Children's Conservatory in Anaheim, CA set out to produce their own live musical parody version of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), as interpreted through their young talents. Follow the young actors, artists, musicians (and a few supervising adults) as they audition, rehearse and perform their take on this classic film.
6.3Band Aid(en)
A couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
7.6The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness(ja)
Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.
Recommendations Movies
7.5David Bowie: Five Years(en)
Featuring a wealth of previously unseen archive, this film looks at how Bowie continually evolved: from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the ‘Thin White Duke’. It explores his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed album Heroes, his triumph with Scary Monsters and his global success with Let’s Dance. With interviews with all his closest collaborators, David Bowie - Five Years presents a unique account of why Bowie has become an ‘icon of our times’.
7.020,000 Days on Earth(en)
A semi-fictionalized documentary about a day in the life of Australian musician Nick Cave's persona.
7.1Cadillac Records(en)
The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
6.5Lovestruck: The Musical(en)
Harper was one of the best dancers to hit Broadway, but an injury caused her to leave the spotlight, become a choreographer, and raise her daughter Mirabella. When Mirabella decides to quit the show to get married, her mother is determined to put a stop to the wedding and show Mirabella that she cannot give up her career for love.
6.3Bessie(en)
The story of legendary blues performer, Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s and '30s.
7.9Tupac: Resurrection(en)
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
8.2Shawn Mendes: In Wonder(en)
A portrait of singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes' life, chronicling the past few years of his rise and journey.
6.9Halftime(en)
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
7.5The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story(en)
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
9.0Dua Lipa: Studio 2054(en)
Dua Lipa's kaleidoscopic rocket fuelled journey through time, space, mirrorballs, roller discos, bucket hats, belting beats, throbbing basslines and an absolute slam dunk of the best of times in global club culture throughout the decades.
7.0Western Stars(en)
The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.
7.2I Called Him Morgan(en)
Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.
6.1Disappearing Acts(en)
A struggling construction worker and an aspiring musician find themselves falling in love.
6.8Iron Jawed Angels(en)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
7.2The Sound of 007(en)
Pull back the curtain on the remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music, from Sean Connery’s Dr No through to Daniel Craig’s final outing in No Time to Die.
6.5Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B(en)
The story of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah; namely, the highs and lows of her career, her romantic pursuits, and the events leading up to her death in 2001 at the age of 22.
6.7Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee(en)
The strange story of John McAfee, who went from millionaire software mogul to yogi, Kurtz-like jungle recluse to potential murderer, and most recently a prospective presidential candidate for the American Libertarian Party.
7.2Junun(en)
A documentary capturing the creation of the album Junun inside Rajasthan’s 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort. Paul Thomas Anderson follows Jonny Greenwood, Shye Ben Tzur, Nigel Godrich, and the Rajasthan Express as they record a cross-cultural fusion of Indian, Israeli, and Western music.
5.8Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square(en)
A rich and nasty woman returns to her hometown to evict everyone but discovers the true meaning of Christmas thanks to the local townsfolk – and an actual angel. Features 14 original songs with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton!
7.7Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.(en)
Drawn from a never before seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.

