Amazing Grace

Documentary, directed by : Alan Elliott, Sydney Pollack, produced by : Joe Boyd, Joey Carey, Alan Elliott, Alexandra Johnes, Rob Johnson, Chiemi Karasawa, Spike lee, Stefan Nowicki, Sabrina V. Owens, Angie Seegers, Tissell Whittley, Joseph Woulf, film editing : Jeff Buchanan, sound ; Jon Gerdemann, Steve Neal, Greg Ortiz, Serge Perron, cast : Aretha Franklin, James Cleveland, Southern California Community Choir, C.L. Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Bernard Pretty Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Clara Ward, Mick Jagger, Sydney Pollack, Charlie Watts, ..., 1h 29mn, (2018).

In 1967 Aretha Franklin leaves the Columbia label records for joining the Atlantic label and tapes the potent hits of the 1960's ("Respect", "Chain of fool", "Think", "A Natural Woman", ...). The Woodstock documentary success incites the Warner Bros who owns Atlantic to send the film director Sydney Pollack shooting a concert given by Aretha Franklin at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts where his father was the reverend. The concert record is the most sell gospel album but the documentary has known a different way. Sydney Pollack has used five cameras and some microphones but forgets synchronizing sound and pictures. The twenty shooting hours can't be used and everything seems to be over. Twenty years after a producer names Alan Elliott takes back the shooting with the purpose to edite the documentary because new technicals can mend the 1972 mistake. "Amazing Grace" should be screened at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival but the Aretha Franklin lawyers aren't agree without giving any explanations (Money ? Spirituality ?). The bassist Chuck Rainey thinks that Aretha Franklin didn't appreciate that we can find inside the audience famous people like Mick Jagger or Charlie Watts who at the same time recorded their most gospel album "Exile on Main Street" and also the singer Clara Ward. Finaly The Aretha Franklin niece Sabrina Owens agrees after Aretha Franklin death in August 2018 to let the documentary being screened. 

Aretha Franklin

Donna Summer, Hot Stuff - artetcinemas.over-blog.com

Documentary, directed by : Lucie Palacios et Dietmar Post, writing credits (in alphabetical order) : Lucie Palacios, Dietmar Post, cast : Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Haby Cook, Mary Bernard ...

http://artetcinemas.over-blog.com/2017/04/donna-summer-hot-stuff.html

Whitney (documentary) - artetcinemas.over-blog.com

Directed by : Kevin McDonald, writing credits (in alphabetical order) : Kevin McDonald, produced by : Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Will Clarke (executive), Nicole Davis (executive), Zanne Devine ...

http://artetcinemas.over-blog.com/2018/09/whitney-documentary.html

Joséphine Baker, the story of an Awakening - artetcinemas.over-blog.com

Documentary, directed by : Ilona Navaro, produced by : Juliette Cazenave, Arte France, Centre national de la cinématographie et de l'image animée, ERT, Keppler 22 production, Kinoport, Novak ...

http://artetcinemas.over-blog.com/2019/04/josephine-baker-the-story-of-an-awakening.html

Amazing Grace (2018) - IMDb

Directed by Alan Elliott, Sydney Pollack. With Aretha Franklin, James Cleveland, Southern California Community Choir, C.L. Franklin. A documentary presenting Aretha Franklin with choir at the New ...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4935462/

Comments

[Richard Murray]

Didn't know that back story, thanks for sharing