Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

2008 · 71 min · ★ 6.2 · Documentary, Music

Wild Combination is a visually absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his death in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators to tell this poignant and important story.

Directed by Matt Wolf

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Arthur Russell Self (archive footage)
Philip Glass Self
Allen Ginsberg Self (archive footage)
Bob Blank Self
Ernie Brooks Self
David Byrne Self (archive footage)
Jens Lekman Self

Make it a double feature

2h 38m together

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Both from Matt Wolf.

More from Matt WolfSee all →

I Am Rebel

I Am Rebel · 2016

SeriesDocumentary

Rebels, Radicals, Mavericks, Change Makers. I Am Rebel is a documentary series about outsiders finding their voices in the underworlds of vice and proving that change only happens when you break the rules.

Pee-wee as Himself

Pee-wee as Himself · 2025

Pee-wee as Himself

SeriesDocumentary

A kaleidoscopic portrait told in two parts tracing the life of the imaginative artist.

I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard

I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard · 2012

I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard

MovieDocumentary

Archival montage combines audio recordings of Joe Brainard reading from the poem, "I Remember," as well as an interview with his lifelong friend and collaborator, the poet Ron Padgett. The result is an inventive biography of Joe Brainard, and an elliptical dialog about friendship, nostalgia, and the strange wonders of memory.

The Stroll

The Stroll · 2023

MovieDocumentary

The history of New York’s Meatpacking District, told from the perspective of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. Filmmaker Kristen Lovell, who walked “The Stroll” for a decade, reunites her community to recount the violence, policing, homelessness, and gentrification they overcame to build a movement for transgender rights.

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project · 2019

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

MovieDocumentary

Marion Stokes secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years from 1975 until her death in 2012. For Marion taping was a form of activism to seek the truth, and she believed that a comprehensive archive of the media would be invaluable for future generations. Her visionary and maddening project nearly tore her family apart, but now her 70,000 VHS tapes are being digitized and they'll be searchable online.

Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Earth · 2020

Spaceship Earth

MovieDocumentary

In 1991 a group of countercultural visionaries built an enormous replica of earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2. When eight “biospherians” lived sealed inside, they faced ecological calamities and cult accusations. Their epic adventure is a cautionary tale but also a testament to the power of small groups reimagining the world.

Teenage

Teenage · 2013

MovieDocumentary

Teenagers did not exist before the 20th century. Not until the early 1950s did the term gain widespread recognition, but "Teenage" offers compelling evidence that teenagers had a tumultuous effect on the previous half-decade.

Bayard & Me

Bayard & Me · 2017

MovieDocumentary

Bayard Rustin was the organizer of the The Great March on Washington and one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. In the 1980s, Bayard adopted his younger boyfriend Walter Naegle to obtain the legal protections of marriage. In this intimate love story, Walter remembers Bayard and a time when gay marriage was inconceivable. He reflects on the little known phenomena of intergenerational gay adoption and its connection to the civil rights movement.

It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise

It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise · 2015

It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise

MovieDocumentary

This portrait of Hilary Knight, the artist behind the iconic Eloise books, sees him reflecting on his life as an illustrator and his relationship to his most successful work.

The Town I Live In

The Town I Live In · 2017

The Town I Live In

MovieDocumentary

In L.A.’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, local activists and members of the art community clash over the fate of a beloved neighborhood.

Another Hayride

Another Hayride · 2021

Another Hayride

MovieDocumentary

As the AIDS epidemic took hold in the early 1980s, self-help guru Louise Hay created a space for healing called the Hayride. Drawing hundreds of gay men confronting a deadly and stigmatized disease, Louise promised that they could overcome AIDS through self-love. Some said this early new age wellness movement was unscientific and harmful. Others who were suffering said that Louise healed them. In the face of a deadly pandemic and government neglect, resilience takes unusual forms, and for Louise Hay’s circle, intimate forms of reckoning were transformative.

The Face of AIDS

The Face of AIDS · 2016

The Face of AIDS

MovieDocumentary

Therese Frare's photograph of the AIDS activist David Kirby on his deathbed incited international controversy when it was used in a United Colors of Benetton advertisement in 1992. This short documentary, commissioned by TIME Magazine for their series 100 Photos about the most influential photographs of all time, features photographer Therese Frare, former Benetton Creative Director Oliviero Toscani, and the artists and AIDS activists Tom Kalin and Marlene McCarthy.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter