New Music Documentaries On Napster, The Beatles To Premiere At SXSW 2013

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This Year’s South By Southwest Festival will see the premiere of several notable music documentaries, with themes ranging from the digital download revolution to a little-known secretary for The Beatles. The new documentary Downloaded tracks the precipitous rise and fall of Napster and the whiz kids behind it: Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. Fun fact: it’s directed by Alex Winter. Don’t know the name? Well, surely you know Bill S. Preston, esquire. Yep, that’s right. The new documentary film is directed by Keanu Reeves’ co-star in the famous Bill and Ted movies. Though it might come as a surprise, Winter made the jump to directing in 1993 with the comedy sci-fi flick Freaked. Excellent.

Another SXSW premiere this year is Good ‘Ol Freda, which tells the almost entirely unacknowledged life story of Freda Kelly, the president of the Beatles Fan Club, and the band’s “secretary” for 11 years. Kelly became close to the band during their early days as an up-and-coming Liverpool act and stayed loyal to the band during their rise to fame and subsequent breakup. The film depicts how, “as the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution “ advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges “ of the greatest band in history.” Even more reason to get excited for SXSW 2013.

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