Post Description

Verenigde Staten
Documentaire
93 minuten

geregisseerd door Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
met James Brown, B.B. King en Muhammad Ali

Het muziekfestival 'Zaire '74' bracht een unieke groep aan soul en R&B artiesten uit Amerika bij elkaar, zoals James Brown, Bill Withers en B.B. King, alsmede enkele Afrikaanse muzikanten als Miriam Makeba en Afrisa. Het festival in Kinshasa werd samen gehouden met het niet minder legendarische gevecht tussen Foreman en Muhammad Ali, de 'Rumble in the Jungle'. Voor vrijwel alle Afro-Amerikanen was het hun eerste bezoek aan Afrika, het 'Motherland' waarvan ze vooraf nogal naïeve en idealistische ideeën hadden. Het keiharde leven in de straten van Kinshasa en de harde hand van dictator Mobutu doet hen echter al snel van mening veranderen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Masters of Cinema Collection # 87

DVD Release Date: November 16, 2009


Director: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte

Description:
Soul Power is a verite documentary -- compiled entirely from footage shot in 1974 ? of the astonishing back-to-Africa 3-day music festival 'Zaire ?74'. It was held in Kinshasa ahead of the biggest boxing event of all time: the Muhammad Ali?George Foreman 'Rumble in the Jungle'. Directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, editor of Leon Gast's Oscar-winning (Best Documentary) When We Were Kings, and sourced from the same archival pool, Soul Power features a legendary line-up of African and African-diaspora musicians -- all of whom are at the very peak of their creative powers.

The three nights of concerts (lensed by Albert Maysles and a host of other legendary cameramen) offer electrifying performances by James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers, Sister Sledge, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Big Black, The Crusaders, Celia Cruz, and many more.

The concert has achieved mythological significance as the definitive Africa(n)-American musical event of the 20th Century and only now, after years of painstaking restoration -- legal wrangling prevented an edit and release at the time of filming -- Soul Power joins the pantheon of concert film classics, taking its place alongside others of the late-1960s and early-1970s, including Monterey Pop, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, Soul to Soul, and Wattstax.


Format: PAL

DVD Size: 7.63 GB -- Exact Untouched Copy

Runtime (main feature): 92 minutes

Type: Color

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Sound (main feature): English

Subtitles: optional English



DISC FEATURES:

# New high-definition transfer of the film.
# Exclusive video interview with the director, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte.
# 30 minutes of deleted behind-the-scenes footage.
# Extra concert performances by James Brown, Sister Sledge, the Pointer Sisters, and others.
# Optional SDH subtitles for the hard of hearing.


Posted in: a.b.dvd.classics