Theater am Olgaeck; Afrika Filmfestival - Amazing Grace

In the organizer's words:

Theater am Olgaeck; Africa Film Festival - Amazing Grace

Documentary and music film about Aretha Franklin, showing the greatness of the Queen of Soul for the first time 47 years after her recording.

Description

When Aretha Franklin was planning her new album in 1972, Warner Brothers was immediately convinced to capture the recordings on film. The studio had previously enjoyed great success with concert films: Michael Wadleigh's "Woodstock" (1970) grossed around 17 million US dollars, for a rights purchase of just 100,000 dollars. Warner was therefore hoping for a similar triumph with "Amazing Grace".

Documentary filmmaker Jim Signorelli was actually supposed to take on the project. But when Sydney Pollack - freshly nominated for an Oscar® for Best Director - heard about Aretha Franklin in a review, he immediately seized the opportunity. The recordings took place in the church of gospel star James Cleveland in Watts, California, and were recorded live in front of an audience. The accompanying album "Amazing Grace" later became not only Aretha Franklin's most successful work, but also the most famous gospel album of all time.

But the movie itself disappeared into the archives. The reason: Pollack, more of a feature film director, had no experience with concert documentaries. Image and sound were recorded separately - without film flaps or markings that would have made synchronization easier. Editors and sound engineers failed despite lip-readers and specialists, and the project was eventually abandoned.

Four decades later, Alan Elliot, Wexler and Pollack tackled the material again. With the help of the latest digital technology, they finally succeeded in harmonizing image and sound and creating a finished film from the raw footage.