【Mockumentary Special】 Sweet and Lowdown (USA, 1999, PG)

Rating: PG – Parental guidance recommended for younger viewers; contains low level offensive language.

Do you know what a mockumentary is? It looks like a documentary, but the story is entirely made up. Through interviews, narration, and carefully designed “historical” details, it blurs the line between truth and fiction and gives the audience a very special viewing experience.

Woody Allen is one of the masters of this style. Among his many films, Sweet and Lowdown (1999) stands out as one of the best mockumentaries ever created. At the same time, it is also one of the most memorable films about jazz.

Allen has been a passionate jazz lover all his life and has spent decades playing the clarinet. That passion runs through this film, filling it with the rhythm, the spirit, and the atmosphere of the jazz world in the 1930s.

The story follows Emmet Ray, a fictional jazz guitar genius, and explores both his musical journey and his bittersweet love story. What makes the film so remarkable is how real it feels even though the story is invented. It is touching, a little melancholic, and carried by wonderful original jazz music that feels like a love letter from Woody Allen to jazz itself.

Location: Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1000
Date and Time: Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 6:30 PM
Fee: Free entry!

Note: We’re hosting the event on the second floor of the Ellen Melville Center. Please use the entrance on the right side of the building on the ground floor. Once you go up to the second floor, you’ll see our venue right there.