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ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION COLLECTIONS:Film and Video

Our film and video collection includes films produced by the Arhoolie Foundation, along with hundreds of hours of informal video shot by Chris Strachwitz. He captured these home videos during travels, at parties, in the midst of backyard barbecues and boucheries. We will be adding to this collection as we continue the process of digitally transferring and sharing clips here and on our YouTube channel.

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Deep Dives: The Strachwitz Video Collection

Deep Dives: The Strachwitz Video Collection

Chris Strachwitz spent many years taking pictures of the people, places and events that he was fortunate to be part of. In the 1980’s Chris also...

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Deep Dives: The Roots of Sacred Steel

Deep Dives: The Roots of Sacred Steel

In 1997, Arhoolie Records released its first disc of Sacred Steel music, a gospel tradition with deep roots in the African American holiness churches of the...

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Deep Dives: Both Sides of the Border

Deep Dives: Both Sides of the Border

The Frontera Collection is an archive of over 160,000 songs documenting over 100 years of music from the border of the US and Mexico. The songs...

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Deep Dives: The Ann Savoy Collection

Deep Dives: The Ann Savoy Collection

The Ann Savoy Cajun Interviews Collection consists of over 200 recorded interviews Ann Savoy conducted with Louisiana musicians over the past 45 years. The interviews are...

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The Chris Strachwitz Archive – Chris’ 90th Birthday Celebration

The Chris Strachwitz Archive – Chris’ 90th Birthday Celebration

Chris’ 90th Birthday Celebration We are celebrating the birthday of Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz as he turns 90 on July 1, 2021! For over 60...

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The Chris Strachwitz Archive – Home Videos

The Chris Strachwitz Archive – Home Videos

We are calling these “home videos” since they were never intended to be released. As soon as small, portable video recorders were available, Chris Strachwitz carried one...

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Down Home Music 1963 Film

Down Home Music 1963 Film

For a limited time watch the entire documentary for free. Down Home Music A Journey Through the Heartland 1963 filmed by Dietrich Wawzyn In 1963 German...

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New Lost City Ramblers Film – Always Been A Rambler

New Lost City Ramblers Film – Always Been A Rambler

For a limited time watch the entire documentary for free. ALWAYS BEEN A RAMBLER A film by Yasha Aginsky This hour-long documentary celebrates fifty years of the...

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Sacred Steel Film

Sacred Steel Film

Watch the Complete Film Now! Sacred Steel Directed by Robert L. Stone The Arhoolie Foundation, in cooperation with the Documentary Arts Foundation, produced this documentary film...

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The Blues Come To Texas — Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick’s Unfinished Book

The Blues Come To Texas — Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick’s Unfinished Book

The book signing party and discussion with Alan Governar, Chris Strachwitz, and Joel Selvin. Held at Down Home Music in El Cerrito, California July 16, 2019....

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Dear friends, 

We’re thrilled to announce that the Arhoolie Foundation and Les Blank Films are joining together to purchase our longtime home at 10341 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

The decision to buy the building comes after several months of thoughtful consideration and a strong response from our community. It has become clear to us that continuing our work in the place where Chris Strachwitz originally conceived it is the best way forward for the organization. Staying in our longtime home preserves an important part of Arhoolie’s cultural legacy, prevents the disruption that moving would cause, and—most importantly—opens up possibilities for closer collaboration with Les Blank Films, Down Home Music, and our local East Bay community.

Now comes the hard part. While we are under contract to buy the building, we need to raise $2.4 million to meet the purchase price by April 15. Here are two ways you can donate to our cause:

  • The GoFundMe page for the capital campaign
    (donations to this fund are shared by all three of the tenants).

  • Direct tax-deductible donations/securities to either of the two non-profits who are buying the building:
    Contact Harrod Blank at Les Blank Films https://lesblank.com/contact/;
    or Adam Machado at Arhoolie Foundation, adam@arhoolie.org.

As we begin this capital campaign, we will continue our normal operations in the building while forging a closer institutional bond with Les Blank Films and taking modest, collaborative steps to bring more public programming into Down Home Music. We plan to revive Les Blank and Chris’ tradition of in-store film screenings and will host more informal, free performances and gatherings in the store as part of our outreach work. We believe this collaboration will result in a vibrant community gathering place dedicated to music, film, and deep roots culture. 

We’re grateful for your support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming weeks and months.