Hang the DJ (film)
Hang The DJ is a 1998 music documentary film debut by identical twin brothers Marco and Mauro La Villa. The idea for this documentary came to them in 1992 while they were working at their uncle's pizza store on St-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal to help pay tuition for a degree in Film Studies at Concordia University. The brothers originally had no interest in DJs or documentaries but became interested in the scene after working late nights and meeting the regular neighborhood club crowd. Mauro has said, "we heard a lot about the gossip and conflicts of the DJ world", which gave the brothers the idea to make a documentary by following disc jockeys around the world to get a sense of what being a DJ really was. Featuring Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez, DJ Qbert and A-Trak, the film presents the cult of DJs in the era that catapulted them into superstars from the underground. The documentary contains a mix of DJ sets from around the globe counterbalanced with commentary from fans and interviews with the DJs.
| Hang the DJ | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Marco La Villa Mauro La Villa |
| Produced by | Marco La Villa Mauro La Villa Henrique Vera Villanueva Andrea Kragaris (Executive Producer) Carlos Orengo (Executive Producer) Rafael Rodriguez (Executive Producer) Diego Briceno (Associate Producer) Solieman Mellali (Associate Producer) Vincenzo Scanzano (Associate Producer) |
| Starring | Roger Sanchez Junior Vasquez DJ Qbert Mix Master Mike John "Jellybean" Benitez Carl Cox Claudio Coccoluto Kool DJ Red Alert |
| Cinematography | Stephen Reizes Steve Beasse Bill St. John |
| Edited by | Jules Collette |
| Distributed by | Pony Canyon |
Release date | 18 September 1998 (Canada) |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $900,000 |
The film's name comes from the lyrics of the 1986 song "Panic" by The Smiths, which Mauro described as "the anthem of our high school years".