Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

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title: "Foo Fighters: Back and Forth" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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"] description: "2011 film by James Moll" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters:_Back_and_Forth" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 2011 film by James Moll ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
image	Back and Forth cover.jpg
director	James Moll
producer
starring	Dave Grohl
William Goldsmith
Taylor Hawkins
Nate Mendel
Chris Shiflett
Pat Smear
Franz Stahl
Butch Vig
cinematography	Harris Done
editing	Tim Calandrello
studio
distributor
released
runtime	101 minutes
country	United States
::

| name = Foo Fighters: Back and Forth | image = Back and Forth cover.jpg | director = James Moll | producer = | starring = Dave Grohl William Goldsmith Taylor Hawkins Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear Franz Stahl Butch Vig | cinematography = Harris Done | editing = Tim Calandrello | studio = | distributor = | released = | runtime = 101 minutes | country = United States | budget = | gross = Foo Fighters: Back and Forth is a 2011 rockumentary about the American rock band Foo Fighters, directed by filmmaker James Moll. The film documents the band's history and the recording process for their seventh studio album Wasting Light. 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.

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. Frontman Dave Grohl has said the main inspiration for the film was the decision to record Wasting Light in the garage of his mansion in Encino, California – "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 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 festival in Austin, Texas. The first session was followed by a surprise Foo Fighters live performance, which included the entirety of Wasting Light in its setlist.

On 12 February 2012, the documentary won a Grammy Award in the Best Long Form Music Video category.

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (2011) | Peak position | Australian Music DVDs Chart | Austrian Music DVDs Chart | Belgian (Flanders) Music DVDs Chart | Belgian (Wallonia) Music DVDs Chart | Danish Music DVDs Chart | Dutch Music DVDs Chart | Finnish Music DVDs Chart | German Albums Chart | Irish Music DVDs Chart | Italian Music DVDs Chart | New Zealand Music DVDs Chart | Norwegian Music DVDs Chart | Spanish Music DVDs Chart | Swedish Music DVDs Chart | Swiss Music DVDs Chart | UK Music Videos Chart | US DVDs Chart | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 27 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Certifications

Awards

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Work	Results
2012	NME Award Best Music Film	Back and Forth
2012	Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video	Back and Forth
::

References

References

1. "''FOO FIGHTERS - BACK AND FORTH'' (15)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
2. [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/472522/foo-fighters-discuss-back-and-forth-documentary-at-sxsw Foo Fighters Discuss 'Back and Forth' Documentary at SXSW], ''[[Billboard (magazine). Billboard]]''
3. [http://music-mix.ew.com/2011/04/15/foo-fighters-dave-grohl-interview-nirvana/ Dave Grohl Q&A: The Foo Fighters frontman talks about the new Foos album, saying no to 'Glee,' and playing 'Smells LIke Teen Spirit' for the first time in 18 years], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
4. [http://blog.vh1.com/2011-03-16/foo-fighters-documentary-premiere-followed-by-surprise-show/ Foo Fighters Documentary Premiere Followed By Surprise Show] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-02-08 , [[VH1]])
5. (July 25, 2011). "ARIA Top 40 Music DVD". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
6. "Austria Top 40 – Musik-DVDs Top 10 24.06.2011". Hung Medien.
7. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". Hung Medien.
8. "Foo Fighters – Back and Forth [DVD]". Hung Medien.
9. "Musik DVD Top-10". [[IFPI Denmark]].
10. "Dutch Charts Portal". Hung Medien.
11. "Suomen Virallinen Lista – Musiikki DVD:t 26/2011". [[Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland]].
12. "Album – Foo Fighters, Back and Forth [DVD]". [[Media Control Charts.
13. "Irish Charts – Singles, Albums & Compilations". [[Irish Recorded Music Association.
14. "Classifiche". [[Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
15. "Top 10 Music DVDs". [[Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
16. "DVD Audio Uke 25, 2011". [[VG-lista]].
17. (May 2017). "Top 20 DVD Musical". Media Control GfK International.
18. "Sveriges Officiella Topplista". [[Sverigetopplistan]].
19. "Swiss Charts – Music DVD Top 10 26.06.2011". Hung Medien.
20. "2011-06-25 Top 40 Music Video Archive". [[Official Charts Company]].
21. Fanelli, Damian. (June 23, 2011). "'Foo Fighters: Back and Forth' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard DVD Chart". [[NewBay Media]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::