Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 28, 2026

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

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.

Last revised
Jun 28, 2026
Read time
≈ 4 min
Length
984 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
Directed byJames Moll
Produced by
  • James Moll
  • Nigel Sinclair
StarringDave Grohl
William Goldsmith
Taylor Hawkins
Nate Mendel
Chris Shiflett
Pat Smear
Franz Stahl
Butch Vig
CinematographyHarris Done
Edited byTim Calandrello
Production
companies
  • Spitfire Productions
  • Allentown Productions
Distributed by
Release dates
  • March 15, 2011 (2011-03-15) (SXSW)
  • April 5, 2011 (2011-04-05) (U.S.)
Running time
101 minutes1
CountryUnited States

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."2 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".3

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.4

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

Charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Music DVDs Chart5 1
Austrian Music DVDs Chart6 2
Belgian (Flanders) Music DVDs Chart7 3
Belgian (Wallonia) Music DVDs Chart8 7
Danish Music DVDs Chart9 2
Dutch Music DVDs Chart10 4
Finnish Music DVDs Chart11 1
German Albums Chart12 27
Irish Music DVDs Chart13 2
Italian Music DVDs Chart14 6
New Zealand Music DVDs Chart15 1
Norwegian Music DVDs Chart16 1
Spanish Music DVDs Chart17 10
Swedish Music DVDs Chart18 1
Swiss Music DVDs Chart19 4
UK Music Videos Chart20 1
US DVDs Chart21 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)22 2× Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)23 Gold 25,000^
United States (RIAA)24 Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards

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

See also

References

References

  1. "FOO FIGHTERS - BACK AND FORTH (15)". Arts Alliance Media. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  2. Foo Fighters Discuss 'Back and Forth' Documentary at SXSW, Billboard
  3. 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. Foo Fighters Documentary Premiere Followed By Surprise Show Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, VH1
  5. "ARIA Top 40 Music DVD" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1117): 22. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 29, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  6. "Austria Top 40 – Musik-DVDs Top 10 24.06.2011". Austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  7. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  8. "Foo Fighters – Back and Forth [DVD]". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  9. "Musik DVD Top-10". Hitlisten.nu (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved February 3, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. "Dutch Charts Portal". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  11. "Suomen Virallinen Lista – Musiikki DVD:t 26/2011". Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland (in Finnish). Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  12. "Album – Foo Fighters, Back and Forth [DVD]". Charts.de (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  13. "Irish Charts – Singles, Albums & Compilations". IRMA. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  14. "Classifiche". FIMI (in Italian). Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  15. "Top 10 Music DVDs". RIANZ. Retrieved February 3, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. "DVD Audio Uke 25, 2011". VG-lista (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  17. "Top 20 DVD Musical" (PDF). PROMUSICAE (in Spanish). Media Control GfK International. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  18. "Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan (in Swedish). Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2013. Search for Foo Fighters and click Sök.
  19. "Swiss Charts – Music DVD Top 10 26.06.2011". Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  20. "2011-06-25 Top 40 Music Video Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 3, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  21. Fanelli, Damian (June 23, 2011). "'Foo Fighters: Back and Forth' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard DVD Chart". Guitar World. NewBay Media. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  22. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2015 DVDs" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  23. "British video certifications – Foo Fighters – Back and Forth". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 16, 2020. Select videos in the Formats field. Type Back and Forth Foo Fighters in the "Search:" field.
  24. "American video certifications – Foo Fighters – Back and Forth". Recording Industry Association of America.
External links