A brief look at four upcoming documentaries.

ONE NINE NINE FOUR
Narrated by Tony Hawk, the film explores the explosion of punk in the ’90s and features interviews with a who’s who of modern punk stars including Green Day, The Offspring, and Bad Religion. Australian director Jai Al-attas explains his motivation for making the film on his MySpace page: “There are a lot of documentaries on punk but none of them have focused only on the 90’s. I have no idea why. It was one of the most successful periods in the history of punk rock! And please don’t start a what is punk argument with me because it is irrelevant and you would be missing the point of the whole film and era.” | Official site

LET THEM KNOW: THE STORY OF YOUTH BRIGADE AND BYO
“They’re a big patch on the quiltwork of punk’s history,” says Bouncing Souls bassist Bryan Kienlen of the influence of the brothers Stern (Adam, Mark, Shawn) on the DIY scene they helped create. Premiering at this year’s punk rock bowling tournament, the film includes interviews with Ian Mackaye, Fat Mike, Steve Soto and other punk luminaries in hopes of illuminating three of punk rock’s unsung heroes who left their mark via their influential band Youth Brigade and their 25-year-old label BYO. | Official site

NOFX: BACKSTAGE PASSPORT
When NOFX outlined a year-long tour that would take them to all the countries they’d never played in before (Israel, China, Ecuador, and on and on and on), they brought along a film crew to document the whole drunken shebang. The resulting footage will become an eight-episode television series on FUSE (HBO rejected it) that will premiere April 15th. What can viewers expect to see? On their official site, the band promised: “Stuff like not getting paid, cops shutting down shows, Muslims getting pissed at us, Jews getting pissed at us, scoring the wrong drugs, getting beat up by Japanese women in latex, getting beat up by a Russian man in a pointy hat and basically having a super great time.” | Official site

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS
The film showcases a group of artists who emerged from indie subcultures like skateboarding, graffiti and punk rock in the early 1990s, and who rose to prominence despite little interest in the established art world. Profiled artists include Shepard Fairy, Ed Templeton, and Harmony Korine. From the film’s official site: “Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories… speaking to themes of what happens when the outside becomes ‘in’ as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today’s youth.” | Official site

We are also eagerly awaiting the as yet untitled Jawbreaker doc from Keith Schieron, producer of the Minutemen documentary “We Jam Econo.”

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