SFF 2011 Day 1 - Trailer of the Day is BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

The 2011 Sydney Film Festival has officially started with the screening of HANNA as the Opening Night Film. Over the next 12 days, I plan to bring you everyday the trailer for a film showing at the SFF on that day. Of course, I will also be bringing you reviews of films, as well as any interesting news that I come across.

My pick for today's Trailer of the Day is the documentary BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. Here's what the SFF Program says about the film:

Actor and true New Yorker Michael Rapaport's engrossing documentary traces the sometimes troubled history of A Tribe Called Quest while examining a politically progressive and creatively fertile era in hip-hop history - a period that is easily overlooked given the current predominance of gold-plated and ego-saturated gangsta rap. Tribe frontmen Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (AKA Kamaal Fareed and Malik Taylor) emerge as an archetypical musical pairing: friends from childhood and creative live wires whose collaboration melded jazz-infused sounds with Afrocentric rhymes, and who were ultimately driven apart by the pressures of fame. Rife with dramatic tension - from coverage of a hostile reunion tour with fellow group members Ali Shaheed Mohammed and Jarobi to the impact of Taylor's (the 'funky diabetic') health issues - this is a brutally honest testament to the group's seminal impact with commentary from De La Soul, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Busta Rhymes and the Beastie Boys.

Embedded below is the trailer.