World News
Critically Acclaimed Documentary “Mr. SOUL!” Premieres Sunday, August 22nd on HBO Max
Executive Producers Chaz Ebert, record executive and film producer Ron Gillyard, producer and director Stan Lathan, Hillman Grad Productions producing partner Rishi Rajani, Run&Shoot Filmworks CEO Stephanie T. Rance, actor and producer Blair Underwood and Emmy award-winning writer, producer and Hillman Grad Productions CEO, Lena Waithe are proud to announce the critically acclaimed documentary Mr. SOUL! will premiere on HBO Max on this Sunday – August 22, 2021.
The film, produced and directed by Melissa Haizlip, won Best First Documentary Feature at the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture) at the52nd NAACP Image Awards. âMr. SOUL!â was also shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best Original Song, for âShow Me Your Soulâ by Grammy Award-winning composer Robert Glasper and Grammy Award-winning singer Lalah Hathaway. (Watch Trailer)
Before Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Mr. SOUL! From 1968 to 1973, the public television variety show, SOUL!, guided by the enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered and uncompromising celebration of music, politics, dance, Black literature, and poetry. SOUL! was the first national variety show to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participantsâ recollections and myriad archival clips, Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in our nationâs cultural rise, whose impact continues to resonate across generations and cultures.Â
Mr.SOUL! celebrates rich cultural moments with astonishing footage of interviews and rare live performances by icons and luminaries such as: Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin, Cicely Tyson, Harry Belafonte, Muhammad Ali, The Last Poets, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sidney Poitier, Mavis Staples, Black Ivory, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Maya Angelou, Billy Preston, Toni Morrison, Bill Withers, Sonia Sanchez, Wilson Pickett, Kool & the Gang, Roberta Flack, Kathleen Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, Carmen de Lavallade, George Faison, Melba Moore, Max Roach, and a 16-year-old Arsenio Hall making his television debut performing magic tricks.Â
Mr. SOUL! made its world premiere at the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL where audiences embraced it with standing ovations and sold-out screenings. Mr. SOUL! received 33 nominations and won 21 awards including 14 film festival awards. Mr. SOUL! screened at over 50 film festivals around the world, including HOT DOCS, AFI Docs, BFI London, True/False, Marthaâs Vineyard African American Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Urbanworld, Los Angeles Film Festival and more. Mr. SOUL!  was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards, and won for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture). In 2020, Mr. SOUL! was nominated for five Critics Choice Documentary Awards including Best Documentary Feature, and won the award for Best First Documentary Feature. The film won the International Documentary Association IDA Doc Award for Best Music Documentary, the Finalist Award for the Inaugural Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, the Audience Award at both AFI Docs and at Woodstock Film Festival. Mr. SOUL! was nominated for a Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Debut Feature. The film made its PBS premiere on Independent Lens during Black History Month 2021.Â
“Making the film helped us illuminate the groundbreaking cultural work of Ellis Haizlip, the man behind one of the most successful and socially significant, Black-produced television shows in U.S. history,” said director Melissa Haizlip. “We’re truly grateful for the opportunity to both introduce and reintroduce the SOUL! series, the music, and Ellis Haizlip to the world. ‘SOUL!’ is the greatest show you’ve never heard of. And up until now, my uncle Ellis Haizlip has been a bit of an unsung hero. Weâre beyond honored to have Mr. SOUL! premiere on HBO Max on August 1st. Itâs both thrilling and historic for our film to be part of such dynamic programming, a platform making a commitment to amplifying diverse stories and voices, a mandate which we need now, more than ever. We hope our film and the music, artists and creators it celebrates will help to center Black excellence and Black joy. Itâs so exciting to see audiences discovering Ellis Haizlip as this hidden figure and unsung hero. Creating this love letter to Black culture helps to elevate all of the significant contributions African Americans and people of color have made to the culture and to the nation.â
“After seeing Melissa’s doc, I knew I wanted everyone to see it. This documentary showcases one of our Queer icons who never received his just due. He put Black people center stage and didn’t care if it was a huge success. He just wanted to leave an impact, and that he did,” says Lena Waithe.
The much-anticipated Mr. SOUL! soundtrack will be available on Hillman Grad Records / Def Jam Recordings, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. The first single off the soundtrack will be âShow Me Your Soul,â performed by Lalah Hathaway, and written by Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Muhammad Ayers and Melissa Haizlip.
For more information on Mr. SOUL!, please visit www.mrsoulmovie.com and @mrsoulthemovie on Instagram and Twitter.
World News
The 77th Festival de Cannes winners’ list
After 11 days of an exceptional edition, the Jury of the 77th Festival de Cannes, chaired by American director, screenwriter and actress Greta Gerwig, surrounded by Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, as well as Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu and French actor and producer Omar Sy, presented its winners’ list among the 22 films presented in Competition this year.
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World News
Sean Kingston, mother arrested after singer’s Florida mansion raided
Singer Sean Kingston has been arrested in California, hours after a police raid of his Florida mansion, during which his mother was also arrested. (more…)
World News
The winners of the 27th La Cinef Selection
The Short Films and La Cinef Jury presided by Lubna Azabal and comprised of Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Paolo Moretti, Claudine Nougaret and Vladimir PeriĆĄiÄ has awarded the 2024 La Cinef Prizes today during a ceremony held in the Buñuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films. La Cinef consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of 2 263 entries coming from 555 film schools around the world.
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World News
Award for Best Immersive Work of the 77th Festival de Cannes
Today at the Plage des Palmes, the Jury of the Immersive Competition of the 77th Festival de Cannes awarded the prize for Best Immersive Work, presenting one winner among the 8 in-competition virtual reality, augmented reality, video projection and holographic works.
The Jury, chaired by French filmmaker and screenwriter Marie Amachoukeli, included French writer, director and producer Mathias Chelebourg, American producer, writer, and director Vassiliki Khonsari, Israeli filmmaker Uri Kranot, and New Zealand and American filmmaker Raqi Syed.
The Award was presented to Colored created by Tania de Montaigne, Stéphane Foenkinos, Pierre-Alain Giraud.
For its inaugural year, more than 3000 tickets were booked by Festival attendees to experience this new movement taking place at the 77th Festival de Cannes.
The selected works – En amour, Evolver, Human Violins: Prelude, Maya: the Birth of a superhero, Noire, TELOS I, The Roaming and Traversing the Mist – each used a variety of technologies and techniques to pave the way for new methods of storytelling.
âWith the Immersive Competition, the Festival de Cannes is showcasing a new art form that draws in part on the heritage of cinema. This approach is in line with our desire to explore new stories and new experiences. This is not the first time the Festival de Cannes has exhibited an immersive work. In 2017, Alejandro GonzĂĄlez Iñårritu‘s Carne y Arena was presented in the Official Selection, and it was a great success. Today the medium is more mature and we’re once again pioneering our approach, offering immersive art pride of place at the Festival, with a selection of 8 works in competition and an awards ceremony hosted by an international jury,â says Thierry FrĂ©maux, General Delegate of the Festival de Cannes.
âThe Immersive Competition is a continuation of the original values of the Festival, exploring new stories with the new tools available,â says Elie Levasseur, Immersive Competition Project Director.
World News
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill takes No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s 100 Best list
Apple Musicâs 100 Best Albums list culminates today with the much-anticipated reveal of the top 10 albums of all time and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hillcrowned No. 1.
Upon receiving the news, Lauryn Hill told Apple Music, âThis is my award, but itâs a rich, deep narrative, and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love.â
10. Lemonade (2016), Beyoncé
BeyoncĂ©âs genre-obliterating blockbuster sixth album is furious, defiant, anguished, vulnerable, experimental, muscular, triumphant, humorous, and brave â a vivid personal statement, released without warning in a time of public scrutiny and private suffering. Every second of Lemonade deserves to be studied and celebrated.
9. Nevermind (1991), NirvanaÂ
Nevermind and its opening salvo âSmells Like Teen Spiritâ didnât just mark an unlikely breakthrough for the Seattle trio, it upended popular culture in ways never before and never since. Punk became pop, grunge became global vernacular, industry walls broke into rubble, and lead vocalist Kurt Cobain was anointed the reluctant voice of a generation in need of catharsis â all seemingly overnight.
8. Back to Black (2006), Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouseâs presentation and otherworldly, timeless vocals make her music feel different â not so much an attempt to re-create the past as to honor the music she loved while still being true to the trash-talking, self-effacing millennial she was. The sound of Back to Black might appeal to retro-soul fans and jazz classicists, but the attitude is closer to rap. Yes, she was funny. But she wasnât kidding.
7. good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamarâs sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d city is one of the defining hip-hop records of the 21st century. West Coast hip-hop elders like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre anointed Lamar to carry on the legacy of gangsta rap, and the legacy of this album is a crucial example of American storytelling that established the future Pulitzer Prize winner as perhaps his generationâs most accomplished writer.
6. Songs in the Key of Life (1976), Stevie Wonder
In 1974, Stevie Wonder was the most critically revered pop star in the world; he was also considering leaving the music industry altogether. So when Songs in the Key of Life was released two years later, demand was so high that it became, at the time, the fastest-selling album in history. The album, which runs nearly 90 minutes, is effortlessly melodic, broad in scope, and deeply personal. Sonically, culturally, and emotionally, Songs in the Key of Life is much more than a gigantic collection of songs â it forms an entire worldview.
5. Blonde (2016), Frank Ocean
Though Blonde packs 17 tracks into one quick hour, itâs a sprawling palette of ideas, a testament to the intelligence of flying oneâs own artistic freak flag and trusting that audiences will meet them where theyâre at. They did. And Ocean established himself as a generational artist uniquely suited to the complexities and convulsive changes of the second decade of the 21st century.
4. Purple Rain (1984), Prince & The Revolution
With half its track list comprising top 10 singles, this soundtrack is what truly turned Prince Rogers Nelson into one of the most instantly recognizable and distinctive pop artists ever. Prince often drew comparisons to Jimi Hendrix for the way he mixed music that felt Black and white, sacred and profane. The reality is that he had no precedent then and no comparison now.
3. Abbey Road (1969), The Beatles
The Beatlesâ Abbey Road is an ageless, unmatched collection of songs by a world-changing band at their creative peak. The bandâs 11th and penultimate album sounds like nothing more or less than four extremely gifted humans playing one indelible song after another in the same room together.
2. Thriller (1982), Michael Jackson
There are few pop albums, or even works of art, that denote a wholesale shift in time and space the way Michael Jacksonâs Thriller did in 1982. It did nothing less than define the modern pop blockbuster and redefine the scope and reach of music. Seven of its nine original cuts were top 10 singles, and it became one of the bestselling albums ever made.
1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hillâs debut â and only â solo studio album was a seismic event in 1998: a stunningly raw, profound look into the spiritual landscape not just of one of the eraâs biggest stars, but of the era itself. She was, and remains, a once-in-a-generation talent whose inspiration and innovation can be heard through the decades. Artists exhaust long discographies hoping for a cohesive piece of work resonant enough to reshape culture and inscribe its creator into the pantheon; Lauryn Hill did it in one.
World News
Iran’s president and foreign minister killed in helicopter crash
Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, has been killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of north-western Iran, the country’s state media has said.
He was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died after the aircraft came down on Sunday.
It was initially reported that the helicopter carrying the men and their entourage had made a rough landing in foggy conditions.
Mr Raisi, 63, was tipped as a potential successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The helicopter came down in a remote area of north-western Iran on the way back from Azerbaijan where Mr Raisi had been meeting President Ilham Aliyev.
On Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent confirmed the bodies of the president and others who died in the crash had been recovered and search operations had ended.
“We are in the process of transferring the bodies of the martyrs to Tabriz [in Iran’s northwest],” the organisation’s chief said on state television.
According to local media he had been in the area to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khodaafarin dams.
Ahead of the confirmation of the death, vigils had taken place in the capital, Tehran, with pictures showing people kneeling in prayer.
Mr Raisi, 63, was a hard-line cleric close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was considered to be a potential successor to the 85-year-old.
His election as president in 2021 consolidated the control of conservatives over every part of the Islamic Republic.
In a statement following his death, the Iranian government said it would continue to operate “without disruption”.
A number of countries have expressed their condolences following President Raisi’s death.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a national day of mourning and described the Mr Raisi and Mr Amir-Abdollahian as “good friends of Iran”.
Writing on social media, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened and shocked” by the deaths.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government was “in full contact and co-ordination with the Iranian authorities” and was ready to “provide any necessary support”.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his condolences and said the president and foreign minister were “true, reliable friends of our country”.
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