Event Description: Directed by Jessica Edwards, MAVIS! is the first feature-length documentary on gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, the Staple Singers. From the delta-inflected gospel sound she helped pioneer in the 1950s, to the “message songs” of the civil rights era marching beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to massive hits such as “I’ll Take You There” in the soul-filled Stax era, and her recent Grammy-winning work with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples is one of the most influential and enduring vocalists of our time and a true American icon. MAVIS! follows her unrivaled career through dynamic live performances, archival footage, captivating storytelling and interviews with friends and collaborators. She occupies a singular place in American music: a soldier of love and peace whose fight continues; her message of equality is needed now more than ever.
Mavis Staples will join Stephen Colbert in a post-screening discussion of the film.
Venue: The Wellmont Theater
Date: Friday May 8, 8:00 PM
Tickets: [Link]
** Tickets for all Montclair Film Festival films go on sale on Wednesday, April 8th for members and sponsors, with public sales beginning Monday April 13th.
Mavis Staples and Stephen Colbert in Conversation
Event Description: Directed by Jessica Edwards, MAVIS! is the first feature-length documentary on gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, the Staple Singers. From the delta-inflected gospel sound she helped pioneer in the 1950s, to the “message songs” of the civil rights era marching beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to massive hits such as “I’ll Take You There” in the soul-filled Stax era, and her recent Grammy-winning work with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples is one of the most influential and enduring vocalists of our time and a true American icon. MAVIS! follows her unrivaled career through dynamic live performances, archival footage, captivating storytelling and interviews with friends and collaborators. She occupies a singular place in American music: a soldier of love and peace whose fight continues; her message of equality is needed now more than ever.
Mavis Staples will join Stephen Colbert in a post-screening discussion of the film.
Venue: The Wellmont Theater
Date: Friday May 8, 8:00 PM
Tickets: [Link]
** Tickets for all Montclair Film Festival films go on sale on Wednesday, April 8th for members and sponsors, with public sales beginning Monday April 13th.