San Francisco's Noise Pop festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is rightly famous as a showcase for new and exciting music. But since 2000, Noise Pop has also shown films about the bands and scenes it celebrates.

A trip through the festival's very thorough archive provides a look at the many great films that have been part of the program, including Flaming Lips documentary "The Fearless Freaks," the amazing and uncomfortable documentary "Heckler," and the band Califone's trippy art piece "All My Friends Are Funeral Singers." (The archive also functions as a charming time capsule of website design.)

This year, Noise Pop offers nine films throughout its six-day run. Here are a few that are worth taking a break from the live bands to see. (All the films play at the Roxie Theater, unless otherwise noted.)

"Hit So Hard" is a documentary look at the life of musician Patty Schemel, who was the drummer for grunge group Hole. It examines her struggles to succeed, her addictions, and her close friendship with Kurt Cobain. Most interestingly, the film makes extensive use of Schemel's own home videos, which provide a behind-the-scenes look at being famous and fucked up in '90s rock. (ATA, Wednesday, 2/22 @ 9pm.)

"Cure For the Pain: The Mark Sandman Story" examines the rise and fall of the titular Morphine frontman, who died of a hart attack on stage in 1999. A complicated, fascinating personality, Sandman was fiercely guarded about his private life, which included the loss of both his brothers. The film includes interviews with such notables as Ben Harper, John Medeski, Les Claypool, Mike Watt, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. (Friday, 2/24 @ 7pm.)

"Andrew Bird: Fever Year" tracks the musical polymath through his "most rigorous year of touring." I haven't seen this one, but I'm very interested as an unabashed fan of both Bird's music and his idiosyncrasies. (Friday, 2/24 @ 9pm.)

"Dragonslayer" is ostensibly a look at the life of Josh “Skreech” Sandoval, a down-and-out, minor skateboarding legend. But, as I mentioned after seeing it at SxSW last year, it quickly becomes obvious that this is no mere skate flim. With strikingly beautiful cinematography and a deft touch, director Tristan Petterson turns Skreech into the central player of the most unlikely tragedy you have ever seen. Easily one of my favorite films of the past year, I cannot recommend "Dragonslayer" enough. (Saturday, 2/25 @ 9:15pm.)