"FESTIVAL!", by Murray Lerner

    FESTIVAL (stylized as "FESTIVAL!") is a 1967 American documentary film about the Newport Folk Festivals of the mid-1960s, and the burgeoning counterculture movement of the era, written, produced, and directed by Murray Lerner.
   The movie was filmed over the course of four festivals at Newport (1963–1966), and includes footage of Bob Dylan’s controversial 1965 electric set.
   The MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN wrote: "The presentation of the music itself is desultory to say the least, consisting of several fragments by unidentified singers. ... The film does record at least one immensely important moment, when 'folk singer' Dylan appears on stage with a group for the very first time to put together a rock version of "Maggie's Farm". But sadly, this recognised turning point in American pop is treated with complete indifference by the film's makers, who don't even bother to show us the whole of Dylan's act or the significantly shocked audience response which greeted it."

  Forty years later, in 2007, a much more complete documentary called THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR was released, focusing on Dylan at Newport Festivals, with full-length song performances, including his controversial electric set in 1965.


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