ARETHA FRANKLIN AMAZING GRACE (PREMIERE)

Documentary concert film (USA,2018)

Realised by:
Alan Elliott
with original 1972 Warner Bros. footage

Production company:
Al’s Records & Tapes Production

Producers:
Alan Elliott, Joe Boyd, Rob Johnson, Chiemi Karasawa,
Sabrina Owens, Jerry Wexler, Tirrell D. Whittley, Joseph Woolf

Starring:
Aretha Franklin, James Cleveland, Alexander Hamilton
and The Southern California Community Choir

Runtime: 87min

Amazing Grace, is the remarkable Aretha Franklin concert film that documents the Queen Of Soul’s return to gospel music in 1972, her famed two-night performances with the choir at New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles. Where she was recording the Grammy–winning live gospel album of the same name, Amazing Grace, that  went on to become the highest-selling gospel music album of all time. The footage was originally captured by the director Sydney Pollack but ended up languishing in the vaults owing to various technical and legal issues, including the ones of Aretha herself. Later on, after producer Alan Elliott acquired the rights to it, the film was finally restored and completed. Music fans have been waiting almost half a century to see a storied documentary of the legendary performances, that were considered unparalleled to any others in music, taking the privileged audience in the church to ecstasy. The necessary permission for realizing the film was given by Aretha’s estate, following Franklin’s death.