Hype! (1996)

Directed by

Doug Pray

Genre

documentary film, musical film, rockumentary

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 24m

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 59 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary uses interviews and concert footage to tell the story of the Pacific Northwest grunge scene from the people who lived it. It looks at how the music grew from basement shows into a worldwide phenomenon and the role media hype played in that rise.

archivalknowinginsiderunvarnishedplayfulnostalgiccelebratorycandid

What happens

Hype! is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Doug Pray about grunge music in the Pacific Northwest during the early to mid-1990s. The film incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early beginnings in neighborhood basements to its emergence as a pop culture phenomenon. The film attempts to dispel some of the myths of the genre promulgated by media hype by depicting it from the point of view of people who were active in the scene. The film portrays this mythos in a satirical way while acknowledging that it was media hype that helped propel many of these obscure bands to fame. Hype! premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 1996, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 8, 1996. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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