Red Bull Music Festival's LA lineup sits right at the intersection between music fests and film
Although music and film have been intimately wed for going on a century now—whether in concert films, biopics, or just, you know, songs and soundtracks playing in movies—the worlds of their respective festivals have had a harder time finding common ground together over the years. Even the monolithic SXSW, which incorporates pretty much every form of media known to humanity, tends to segregate the two out when March rolls around.
Now, Red Bull’s Music Festival LA is attempting to bridge that gap; fittingly enough for a Los Angeles event, the fest is putting a heavy emphasis on music in film this year, announcing a number of offerings suited for the sonic cinephile: a marathon of punk-themed docs and movies, a retrospective on influential biopic Selena—including an appearance from co-star Edward James Olmos—and the debuts of new music-adjacent films from both Jeff Goldblum and Elisabeth Moss. That’s in addition to more traditional festival fare, including the kick-off for the latest tour from Swedish Honey purveyor Robyn. There’s even a celebration of the soundtrack from recent video game hit Red Dead Redemption 2, for those who love music in moving pictures, but hate that they can’t control what the horses do while they watch them.
Red Bull Music Festival LA kicks off this year on February 7.