What Happened, Miss Simone
8 /10 1 Votes
Director Liz Garbus Production Netflix Duration Language English | 7.8/10 IMDb Genre Documentary Country United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cast Lisa Simone Kelly (Herself), Nina Simone (Herself), Dick Gregory (Himself), Stanley Crouch (Himself)Release date January 22, 2015 (2015-01-22)
(Sundance)
June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26)
(Netflix) Initial release January 22, 2015 (Park City) Producers Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby, Jayson Jackson, Justin Wilkes Similar movies John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly , Albert Collins and the Icebreakers - Live Montreal 1983 , Eric Clapton: Sessions for Robert J , Blues Story , Deep Blues , Blues and the Alligator: The First Twenty Years of Alligator Records Tagline Her story. Her voice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon and legendary recording artist Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius, and tortured melancholy.
Contents
What Happened, Miss Simone is a 2015 biographical documentary film about Nina Simone directed by Liz Garbus. The film opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The screening was followed by a tribute performance by John Legend. The film was released by Netflix on June 26, 2015. The documentary combines previously unreleased archival footage and interviews with Simones daughter and friends. The title of the film was taken from a Maya Angelou quote.
The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.
Production
Garbus was approached with the idea and rights for the film by RadicalMedia. Ninas daughter Lisa Simone Kelly served as the films executive producer.
Reception
Indiewire gave the film a B grade. Michael Hogan wrote for Vanity Fair that, "The risk of making a documentary of a towering artist is that, by explaining her, you only end up diminishing her. Not Nina Simone—not this time. In Liz Garbus’s telling, Simone’s talent and personality shine through, as gloriously singular, and uncontrollable, as ever."
References
What Happened, Miss Simone? WikipediaWhat Happened, Miss Simone? IMDb What Happened, Miss Simone? themoviedb.org