''Foo Fighters: Back and Forth'' is a 2011 rockumentary about the American rock band

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

, directed by filmmaker

James Moll James Moll is an American director and producer of film documentaries and television documentaries. His documentary work has earned him an Academy Award, two Emmys, and a Grammy. Moll's production company, Allentown Productions Inc., was b ...

. The film documents the band's history and the recording process for their seventh studio album ''

Wasting Light ''Wasting Light'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on April 12, 2011, through Roswell and RCA Records. Wanting to capture the essence of their earlier work and avoid the artificiality of digital recording, ...

''. The film's title is taken from a song of the same name on ''Wasting Light''. In 2012, ''Back and Forth'' won the

Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an annual accolade for performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. It is presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 when it was called the Gramophone Aw ...

Background

The film includes material taken from over 1,000 hours of historical and new footage, and interviews with the current members of Foo Fighters, former bandmembers William Goldsmith and Franz Stahl, and producer

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...

. Frontman

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

has said the main inspiration for the film was the decision to record ''Wasting Light'' in the garage of his mansion in

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

– "Personally, I thought it would be a good idea to now tell the story of the last 16 years, so it would make more sense to watch us make a record in a garage. After selling out fucking stadiums and becoming this big rock band, why would you make a garage record? To me the first hour and 20 minutes of the movie is leading up to that moment." He also added that while the band "always believed a little mystery is important to rock’n’roll", he considered it was time to tell their story, and referencing the

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

documentary '' Runnin' Down a Dream'', "If we wait any longer, we’re going to wind up with a four-hour-long documentary".

Release and reception

''Back and Forth'' saw its debut on March 15, 2011 at the

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. The first session was followed by a surprise Foo Fighters live performance, which included the entirety of ''Wasting Light'' in its setlist.Foo Fighters Documentary Premiere Followed By Surprise Show
,

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

On 12 February 2012, the documentary won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the Best Long Form Music Video category.

Charts

Certifications

Awards

References

External links

Official website
* {{Grammy Award for Best Music Film 2011 video albums Foo Fighters video albums Rockumentaries Columbia Records video albums Films directed by James Moll Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video Foo Fighters live albums