ELLA FITZGERALD: JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS, LESLIE WOODHEAD, 2019, 90 MIN.
SPECIAL FREE SNEAK PREVIEW of Ella FITZGERALD: Just One Of Those Things on the virtual cinema on June 19th with a special Zoom panel at 4:30pm.
Ella Fitzgerald was a 15 year-old street kid when she won a talent contest in 1934 at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Within months she was a star. “Ella: Just One of Those Things” follows her extraordinary journey over six decades as her sublime voice transforms the tragedies of her own life and the troubles of her times into joy.
The film uses never-before-seen images and unheard interviews to bring Ella Fitzgerald to life and to tell the story of her music. - a black woman who makes her career in the face of horrifying racism.
Here is an Ella the world never knew – tough, thoughtful, funny, a dazzling musical innovator. The film also uncovers Ella’s commitment to the battle for Civil Rights; and it explores the conflicts that always haunted this intensely private woman: the struggle to reconcile her hunger for adoring audiences with her longing for a domestic life with her husband and son. At a time when she was the biggest singing star in the world, her pianist and friend Oscar Peterson said Ella was “the loneliest woman in the world”. But as Jamie Cullum says “her music is one of the reasons it’s worth being on this planet”.
Featuring interviews with: Tony Bennett, Jamie Cullum, Laura Mvula, Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson, Cleo Laine, Andre Previn, Norma Miller, Patti Austin, Izsak Perlman, Margo Jefferson, Will Friedwald and a rare interview with Ella’s son, Ray Brown Jr. Narrated by Sharon D. Clarke.
Q&A with Producer Reggie Nadelson and others, moderated by Herb Boyd will broadcast live on Zoom at 4:30pm EST co-presented with The National Jazz Museum
This discussion is part of:
Made In Harlem: Remembering The Renaissance (2020)
Made In Harlem: Remembering The Renaissance, on the occasion of the Harlem Renaissance’s landmark 100th anniversary, uses the wide-ranging lens of documentary film to capture and commemorate, explore and expand the many layers of experience that made up--and continue to make up--the Harlem Renaissance. The series brings together a variety of mostly nonfictional film sources to examine visual representations of the Renaissance and the lasting influence of these representations on political and artistic output, collective memory, present-day black experiences, and the Harlem of today. This series is supported by the West Harlem Development Corporation
Due to the nature of this screening we are unable to offer sliding scale ticketing prices. A portion of all ticket sales from Ella Fitzgerald will go to directly supporting Maysles Cinema and our documentary education programs for young people in Harlem during these uncertain times. We continue to be incredibly grateful for our engaged and resilient community and their support. If you would like to make an additional donation to Maysles Documentary Center you can follow THIS LINK.
