Friday, 16 November 2007
wattstax to kick off a new program of extended film seasons
.My Clothes Are Different
My Face Is Different
My Hair Is Different
But I Am Somebody
I Am Black Brown White
I Speak A Different Language
But I Must Be Respected
Protected
Never Rejected
I Am
God's Child
- Excerpt from I am - Somebody - Poem, spoken by Reverend Jesse Jackson, Wattstax Concert, 1972
ACMI introduces Long Play, a new ongoing program of extended-run film seasons designed to give fabulous film discoveries the room to lift off!
Whether it's a brand new international feature cutting a swathe through the festival circuit or a restoration of a classic or cult film, you'll be seeing it exclusively in Melbourne at ACMI Cinemas.
Long Play will kick off with the new restoration of Wattstax (1973, USA), the perfect movie for the summer music festival season, and a movie with soul - literally.
Wattstax is centred around the 1972 Watts Summer Festival, a legendary day-long concert that celebrated the music, people, and racial pride of the 1970s black community in the Watts area, Los Angeles.
Taking place 7 years after the Watts riots brought issues of racism back into public consciousness, Wattstax is a rich tapestry incorporating footage of the community, its people, politics and history, with a series of stellar performances (and behind the scenes discussions) from the crème de la crème of the Stax music label including Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, The Emotions, the Bar-Kays, Albert King, Carla Thomas, Melvin Van Peebles and the Staple Singers.
Wattstax also features a 'shout-out' by Reverend Jesse Jackson, the comic stylings of a young Richard Pryor, and a wardrobe of the biggest flairs, afros, and pimpin' fashion you'll ever see!
Wattstax opens Boxing Day, 2007 at ACMI Cinemas.
Further information
Claire Butler
Communications Coordinator
[direct phone] 61 3 8663 2415 [fax] 61 3 8663 2498 [mobile] 0434 603 654
[email] claire.butler@acmi.net.au
|
|
|
