By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --Through archival footage and interviews with her family, closest confidants and collaborators, Nina Simone comes to life again — still enigmatic but more easily understood — in the new documentary "What Happened, Miss Simone?" which premiered Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival.
A classically trained pianist, accidental singer, passionate activist and often-lost soul, Simone's many facets are illuminated in the film by director Liz Garbus, whose first film played at Sundance 16 years ago.
"This is the film I've been practicing to make all these years," Garbus said before the screening.
The film opens with Simone onstage in 1968, just before her self-imposed exile to Liberia, then goes back to her childhood piano lessons. She took instantly to piano as a young girl, catching the notice of a white teacher who offered to provide lessons. Still known then by her given name, Eunice Waymon, she is shown walking across the train tracks that separated whites from blacks in her North Carolina hometown to reach the teacher's home.
Eunice Waymon dreamed of becoming the first black classical pianist in the United States, and she saw herself at Carnegie Hall — until she was denied admittance to the Curtis Institute of Music because of her race.
That denial turned her into an entertainer. She started playing in bars to make a living, and the managers there required her to sing. Before long, she was playing at the Newport Jazz Festival, and, eventually, Carnegie Hall.
Still, she felt a profound emptiness, reflected in her journal entries included in the film. She was lonely and depressed, and her husband and manager, Andrew Stroud, was abusive.
Simone found purpose in the civil rights movement, and realized she could use her fame and talents to support the fight for equality.
"I could sing to help my people," she says in the film, "and that became the mainstay of my life."
"What Happened, Miss Simone?" — the title taken from a Maya Angelou quote — tells the story of a troubled, gifted and passionate woman who found her voice in music. She was fervent about the dignity of African-Americans and fought staunchly for equality.
Simone's songs for justice are just as relevant now, the film's director said.
"If we had voices like Nina Simone's today, speaking the pain and the passion of the movement that's been building, I think, on the streets in the past six months…" Garbus said, "I think we can all see the place of these songs today."
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More