Angelheaded Hipster - Director Ethan Silverman

Director Ethan Silverman’s ANGELHEADED HIPSTER: THE SONGS OF MARC BOLAN & T-REX is a visually rich and musically daring documentary that fluidly moves between 1970s glam-rock stages and 21st-century recording studios. The film chronicles the creation of the late Hal Willner’s star-studded tribute album—featuring U2, Nick Cave, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, Father John Misty, and more—while weaving in rare archival performances and interviews with Marc Bolan, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and David Bowie. Structured “like a musical, ” the film uses Bolan’s lyrics to guide a semi-linear journey through his life—from his early friendship with Bowie and his chart-topping glam era, to his untimely death at age 29. Shot across New York, London, Paris, Berlin, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, the film blends vérité rehearsal footage, stylized dream sequences, Super-8 home movies, and glittering Top of the Pops clips into an immersive celebration of Bolan’s gender-fluid swagger, poetic wordplay, and rhythm-driven songwriting—cementing his legacy as one of rock’s most visionary figures. Director Ethan Silverman joins us for a conversation on pulling together the all-star roster of musicians for the film AND the album tribute to one of the rock and roll era’s true music innovators and visionaries.