One of the fun benefits of access to free films through the Lake Forest Library is the ability to watch them on any of your devices: your phone, your computer and your laptop.  Download the Apps for Hoopla and Kanopy through lakeforestlibrary,org and you will have access to a wide variety of topics.  The documentaries that I have found to be especially entertaining are ones that take me behind the scene, not to just an earlier time and place but access to a world I really don’t otherwise have access to. I enjoy listening to music and to be able to see the creative process is especially fascinating. Echo in the Canyon is the story of a time and a place where musical greats were neighbors and the music scene of the 1960’s was influenced by casual get togethers and late night jam sessions. Jakob Dylan introduces the viewer to The LA scene of The Mama’s &the Papa’s, The Bryds, Buffalo Springfield, The Beach Boys and the birth of their bands. Interviews with Beck, David Crosby, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Fiona Apple, and other great singers tell us stories from the past and when they join together in the studio to sing it’s so fun to be there with them.  Available on both Hoopla & Kanopy

 Woodstock: 3 Days That Changed Everything is a look back to this amazing and unusual concert.  Footage of performances, interviews of concert goers both then and now, the hatching of the plan, the uncertainty and frenzy of getting the funding and signing the bands.  We see the set-up, the interviews with the farmer who loaned his land at the last minute it’s all the details that make this a fascinating movie. I love the fun facts, there are so many snippets like: that the concert goers ran out of food because the roads in were blocked by abandoned cars so neighbors donated canned goods which were then delivered to the crowds by helicopter’ This movie is available on Kanopy.  Typing Woodstock into the search box in Hoopla will connect you to interviews and biographies of Jimmy Hendrix, sound tracks of musicians like Joe Cocker and fun fiction set amidst the rock and roll world of that era. There are recollections, oral histories, and even the live recordings from the concert including The “FISH Cheer”. At the other end of the spectrum is the documentary ABBA Super Troupe.  This film follows the band’s journey from Swedish folk singers to international pop-stars.  It includes interviews, performances and inside stories from industry professionals.  Their clothes, their hair, their dancing, so fun to watch on the film clips. (Hoopla)  In case ABBA Super Troupe isn’t enough Discovering Abba features archive materials, music videos and interviews; enough here for any Abba fan, available through Kanopy There are other documentaries on this group and they are all fun to watch.

FASHION, history and culture are intertwined and when watching these documentaries, you are also sneaking in a history lesson. There is no shortage of films about fashion, the models and the designers.   Westwood: Punk.Icon.Activist  is a look at the life and career of Vivienne Westwood. She is feisty (I have nothing to say to you, interview someone else) focused and meticulous (these seams are not right, we can’t sell these).  Vivienne Westwood is the epitome of a fashion star; fun and outrageous (she loves ripped and slashed fabric, shirts and pants with deliberate holes), she designed clothes for The Sex Pistols, a band that used to practice in her store, this band was just one of her many famous and fascinating clients. In this film we meet her staff which mostly consists of her husband who is also her business partner, her store managers and many longtime friends and clients.  Westwood is a force, a true artist and we get to see up close her passion as an environmental activist and her inspirations for using art for political change (Kanopy).

Dior and I is for all fashionista’s who would enjoy a look at the famed House of Dior, a glimpse into the world of haute couture. The musings and film clips of the founder of this house of fashion are interspersed with the introduction of Raf Simons (2012-2015) the newest head designer and his team’s race to get ready for The Big Show.  With just weeks to prepare (no pressure!) and new to this position, we see how he works with his team and how his team, longtime Dior employees work with their new boss. From the walls made out of flowers, the tensions of deadlines, the designs that work and the ones that don’t, it’s all enthralling for those who are intrigued by this world of high fashion. In French with subtitles, on both Hoopla & Kanopy.

McQueen The Life and Career of Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen: Legend, Provocateur, Genius is an intimate look at Lee Alexander McQueen, a British designer known for his clothing splashed with images of The Union Jack and his campy take on the Scottish tartan.  He is well-known for his sometimes macabre and outrageous fashion shows and designs featuring crows, skulls and skeletons. He was the chief designer at Givenchy for 5 years, and also designed for Gucci and Puma.  McQueen designed wardrobes for Bowie and Bjork and often made headlines for his unusual creations worn by young royals.  Trained as a tailor he was a true craftsman with a fun and sometimes dark imagination, on both Hoopla & Kanopy. Some of my other favorite fashion films include: The First Monday in May follows the preparation for the most attended fashion exhibit in history, the biggest show that is put on by The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.  Designers, museum curators and their staff are all working together under the critical eyes of editor-in-chief Anna Wintour of Vogue and Andrew Bolton, the chief curator of this show.  This movie is filled with fashion and celebrity sightings, on Hoopla.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel features recorded audio and filmed interviews of Vreeland, as well as interviews with her colleagues, family, and friends.  This film makes it clear that Vreeland revolutionized fashion by popularizing the blue jean and the bikini, the idea that fashion can be used to educate and that traveling to Africa to get the perfect fashion shot is worth the expense. After nearly 26 years at Harper’s Bazaar, Vreeland moved over to Vogue to become the editor-in-chief. She discovered and promoted Lauren Bacall, Twiggy, she made the magazine into a much-loved artistic and well respected publication. This documentary features several accounts from people who worked with Vreeland during this time, including models, photographers, and fellow editors, discussing Vreeland’s drive and her vision for the magazine, on Kanopy.

Edith Head: Portrait of a Hollywood Costume Designer is the story of Hollywood, “where all woman are beautiful, all men are handsome” according to this 8-time academy-award winning costume designer. “I spent my life dressing the beautiful people” she says, “everyone thinks that their work is the most important, but they have to look good and that’s my job”.  So light hearted and fun, filmed in her beautiful house and gardens.  This film is full of personal anecdotes, fun stories and behind the scenes stories of her time on the sets of the movies.  It’s a little campy which makes it even more fun to watch on Kanopy.

The next few films are favorites are true documentaries in the best sense in that they take you where you can’t go alone and they leave you intrigued and wanting to learn more.  Crazy about Tiffany’s leads you into the rarified artistry learned by generations of craftsmen.  Diamonds, sculptures, glass and china objects are all created to the highest standards and with the customer’s happiness and satisfaction upmost in the minds of this legendary institution.  Tiffany’s is more than a jewelry store or a family business; this fun film takes you along on a feel good journey without spending a dime. Lovers of the Movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s will enjoy this trip where you meet Jessica Biel, Katie Couric, Rachel Zoe among others on Hoopla & Kanopy.

And finally Always at the Carlyle is where we end, where you can come to rest at this jewel of a hotel.   George Clooney, Anthony Bourdain, Wes Anderson are a few of the many famous guests who think of The Carlyle as more than a hotel but as a place they can relax. If you have stayed here this a chance to relive it and if you haven’t, well a girl can dream. Visit New York’s most Glamorous (and Discreet) Hotel through Kanopy.

Visit lakeforestlibrary.org, to download and stream and enter a whole new world of Vogue, Punk, and Tiffany.