Desire: The Carl Craig Story (2025)

Doc'n Roll Film Festival is coming to Amsterdam, with an electrifying lineup of Dutch film premieres celebrating the legendary stories behind the music.

"Desire: The Carl Craig Story" is an intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit. Raised in a middle-class African American family, Carl's parents fostered his artistic pursuits, even if that meant breaking with his family's tradition of pursuing higher education. With Detroit's decline and recovery as a backdrop, "Desire: The Carl Craig Story" follows the career of a musical pioneer whose genre-defying techno music – which was inspired by a wide range of sounds, has been performed to jazz enthusiasts at the Montreux Jazz Festival and in the premier classical auditoriums around the world, including Carnegie Hall. Thirty-five years into his music career, Carl Craig, a leading figure of the second generation of the Detroit techno artists, has now been embraced by the visual arts world, with recent exhibitions at MOCA in Los Angeles and Dia Beacon in New York. But at the pinnacle of his creative and deejaying success, the musician faces challenges that could ultimately force him to stay away from the dance floor. Before the screening there is an online introduction and Q&A.

Melkweg often hosts different types of programmes at the same time, such as concerts, club nights and films. Please note that there may occasionally be some noise pollution from other programmes during the screening.