A music film festival boasting a string of premieres and director Q&A sessions continues in Liverpool this weekend.

Doc’n Roll Film Festival 2018 kicked off yesterday (28 March) and features documentaries on artists from Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane to The The and Merseybeat band The Big Three.

The UK’s music documentary festival has returned to Liverpool in 2018 for its third edition with an extended programme of premiere films running until 1 April.

The festival launched in 2014 and set out on a mission to show recognition to “under-the-radar music films which are largely ignored by risk-averse film programmers”.

This year’s continuing festival programme is as follows:

29 March: ‘Manchester Keeps On Dancing’ – showing at the British Music Experience (BME) at 7.30pm

Dir. Javi Senz, 2017, UK, 90 mins

+ Q&A with the film’s producer, plus DJ Greg Wilson

A new feature film which documents the arrival of House music in Manchester from Chicago in the 1980s, through to the Acid House explosion of 1988 and a further 30 years of its impact.

29 March: ‘The Inertia Variation: The The & Matt Johnson’ – showing at FACT at 8:30pm

Dir. Johanna St Michaels, Sweden/UK, 2017, 85 mins

+ Skype Q&A with Matt Johnson

Liverpool premier of award-winning documentary about post-punk band The The and its only constant member, Matt Johnson.

30 March & 1 April: ‘Some Other Guys – The Story of the Big Three’ – showing at the BME at 7.30pm (30 March) and FACT at 3.30pm (1 April) 

Dir. Todd Kipp, Canada, 2017, 100 mins

+ Q&A

A look back at Liverpool’s vibrant music scene in the 1960s, centred around the rise and fall of The Big Three.

30 March: ‘Raving Iran’ – showing at FACT at 8.30pm

Dir. Susanne Regina Meures, 2016, Switzerland, 84 mins

+ Skype Q&A with director

This 2016 German-Iranian film follows Iranian DJs Anoosh Rakizade and Arash Shadram as they try to organise raves and make electronic music while attempting to evade the controls of the Iranian government.

31 March: ‘Play Your Gender’ – showing at FACT at 2.30pm 

Dir. Stephanie Clattenburg, Canada, 2017, 80 mins

+ Live Q&A

In the entire history of the Grammys, only six women have been nominated for the Producer of the Year award, and no woman has ever won.

In Play Your Gender, Kinnie Starr embarks on a quest to find out why this disparity exists by speaking to music industry stars and veterans about the realities of being a woman in the recording studio.

31 March: ‘Pure Love: The Voice of Ella Fitzgerald’ – showing at FACT at 4.30pm 

Dir. Katja Duregger, 2017, Germany, 52 mins

Focusing on the phenomenon of her extraordinary voice, this film pays tribute to The First Lady of Song – Ella Fitzgerald – on what would have been her 100th birthday on 25 April 2017.

1 April: ‘Chasing ‘Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary’ – showing at FACT at 1pm 

Dir. John Scheinfeld, US, 2017, 99 mins

The life and work of legendary jazz musician John Coltrane, featuring input from Denzel Washington, Carlos Santana, Common, Cornell West, Bill Clinton and more.