From their roots as a brutal, confrontational industrial band, through breakups and chaos, to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there's been one constant since its formation in 1982--singer, songwriter Michael Gira. 'Where Does a Body End?' is a SWANS documentary with unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs. An unfiltered story of a life in the arts, frequent difficulty spanning decades without a safety net, creating work because Gira says "What else am I going to do?"
Directed by Marco Porsia
swan
rock music
post-rock
music documentary
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.7 / 5
Cast
Michael Gira
Self
Jarboe
Self
Thurston Moore
Self
Lee Ranaldo
Self
Amanda Palmer
Self
J.G. Thirlwell
Self
Jehnny Beth
Self
Karen O
Self
Daniel Miller
Self
Norman Westberg
Self
Ben Frost
Self
Crew
Christian Storms
Director of Photography
Rodney Ascher
Executive Producer
Rodney Ascher
Co-Producer
Rodney Ascher
Story Editor
Popular Reviews
8 reviews
Sérgio
9.0★ · 12/20/25
gira is the goat fr
gira is the goat fr
Jake
9.1★ · 11/24/24
Incredibly inspiring. Michael Gira is truly a singular artist. Very flitting that a documentary about swans is almost 3 hours with another 3 hours of bonus footage lol.
Incredibly inspiring. Michael Gira is truly a singular artist. Very flitting that a documentary about swans is almost 3 hours with another 3 hours of bonus footage lol.
Tmtmtm
Wowza
Wowza
Thomas Garcia
7.0★ · 09/23/23
Ultimately an enjoyable doc, but the latter half isn’t nearly as informative as the former. Especially when an album like The Great Annihilator only gets flashed for a second on screen…Still a must watch for any Swans fan
Ultimately an enjoyable doc, but the latter half isn’t nearly as informative as the former. Especially when an album like The Great Annihilator only gets flashed for a second on screen…Still a must watch for any Swans fan
Max
8.0★ · 03/01/23
The lack of Great Annihilator love was disappointing but I am still V hyped for new Swans record
The lack of Great Annihilator love was disappointing but I am still V hyped for new Swans record