Africadelic

During ADE 2020 (October 21-25), Melkweg and Africadelic are hosting a free online program of music documentaries highlighting the influence of African and African diasporic artists on electronic music. One of the films we are streaming is Larry's Garage (2019), which can be watched from 21-25 October at www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl/en/ade-online/.

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Melkweg x Africadelic x ADE2020: Larry's Garage
Title: Larry's Garage: The Story of Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage
Director: Corrado Rizza
Country: United States
Year: 2019
Length: 90'
Language: English
Available: From 21-25 Oct at www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl/en/ade-online/

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In July of 2015 while surfing the net, the Italian DJ and music producer Corrado Rizza found what he considered to be an amazing video on YouTube. It was published by Hiroyuki Kajino, an active Japanese DJ in the 80's. It was an unpublished interview with the famous DJ Larry Levan from the Paradise Garage in New York City. The Paradise Garage opened in 1977 and it was a legendary club where Larry Levan showed his creative genius for ten years. He was so creative that he turned his club into a temple of music. Larry died prematurely in 1992, at the age of 38. The video that Corrado Rizza found on YouTube was recorded at The Choice in New Yor City in 1989. The Choice was a Discotheque created by Richard Vasquez and Joey Llanos after the "Garage" closed, inside the formerly known disco Loft by David Mancuso. Larry's interview today, after almost 30 years, is still extraordinary and very modern. After that incredible discovery, Corrado Rizza got in touch with the Japanese DJ and asked him for the exclusive rights. Corrado wanted to produce and direct a documentary featuring Larry's interview and to tell the story of the Paradise Garage. Hence the title of Larry's Garage. Corrado began co-producing the movie with Claudio Napoli and Massimo Mascolo, two fellow Italians video-makers who just moved to NYC. For four years, they worked to reconstruct Larry's story and the story of the "Garage" through original and archive footage. Understanding what Larry represented for many people and for the entire club culture was the primary goal. Unfortunately, they discovered that many of his friends were gone. Many because of AIDS that affected the gay community so severely in the 80's. However, they managed to find people between New York City, Los Angeles, London, Rome and Miami willing to share their experiences and memories about Larry and the "Garage." They were able to interview more than 40 people and along the way they found more exclusive videos, like a long video about Larry shot inside the club Mars by Yuki Watanabe. It was made in the early '90s, just before Larry started a tour in Japan, the last place where Larry worked and was strongly acclaimed.

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Africadelic is an organization committed to the promotion of the cultural creativity and diversity in and from Africa (including the African diaspora). The organization develops, produces and promotes festivals and other socio-cultural initiatives, such as music concerts, dance performances, film screenings, art exhibitions and critical debates, with a focus on artists and visitors from Africa and the African diaspora as well as those with an interest in and appreciation for cultural creativity and diversity in and out of Africa.