“Amazing Grace,” a never-before-seen film capturing Aretha Franklin’s live concert recording of what would become the most successful gospel album of all time, opens June 28 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Mary Riempa Ross Media Arts Center.
Brilliantly capturing a remarkable performer near the peak of her prodigious power, “Amazing Grace” is a thrilling must-watch documentary for Aretha Franklin fans.
The documentary was shot by Sydney Pollack and features Franklin with a choir at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, California, in January 1972. Due to technical difficulties, the film was never released publicly. It languished for almost 40 years before former Atlantic staff producer Alan Elliott and Pollack approached Warner Brothers about using new digital technology to match sound to picture and make a film out of the raw footage. Now, 47 years later, the film is a time machine window into a moment in American musical and social history.
“Amazing Grace” plays through July 4. It is rated G for general audiences, and is being presented with the support of the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
For more information, including showtimes, call 402-472-5353 or visit the Ross website.
