Filmmaker Liz Garbus was in the audience when Nina Simone performed at the 1976 Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, her first words to the audience being, "You don't understand me, you don't know what I mean when I say I'm tired . . . this is my last jazz concert and I'm graduating to a higher plane." Garbus' latest documentary, a Netflix original titled What Happened, Miss Simone?, is her attempt to understand what the iconic singer and civil rights activist meant by that declaration.
Garbus isn't the first to do so, by any means: Simone wrote an 1991 autobiography,...
Garbus isn't the first to do so, by any means: Simone wrote an 1991 autobiography,...
- 6/29/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Liz Garbus' "What Happened, Miss Simone?" begins with footage of Nina Simone taking the stage at the 1976 Montreaux Jazz Festival. It was a performance that simultaneously represented a comeback from self-imposed exile for the iconic chanteuse, but also has been used as an example of the mercurial, erratic and occasionally bizarre work that characterized the middle of Simone's career. Simone stands in front of her piano and takes a prolonged bow. She stares into the audience and seemingly off into space. There's almost no way to read her. Is she embracing the applause? Is she alienated in the spotlight? Is this her dream? Is it her nightmare? It's a perfect prelude to the film's title, which comes from a 1970 Redbook piece by Maya Angelou. That enigmatic opening and the interrogative title lead, somewhat disappointingly, into a rather conventional cradle-to-the-grave documentary. But even if there's a sense that a woman...
- 1/23/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Before I could ask Brigitte Berman about the mixed reception that her new documentary about Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has received, she wanted to make one thing clear: "You cannot do a valentine piece. You must not. If you do, you discredit everything."
For some, Hefner will never receive much credit, but that is exactly what Berman attempts to rectify in "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel," a leisurely biography that's very much like his glossy magazine: an easy sell because of the busty bombshells found within its pages, but just as seductive for its willingness to inject itself into the politics and culture of the era.
Alongside the centerfolds, Berman offers up a different definition of T & A in regards to Hefner, chronicling his tenacity and ambition as an innovator of cross-platform media, a savvy tastemaker, and a champion of the First Amendment who used his many outlets...
For some, Hefner will never receive much credit, but that is exactly what Berman attempts to rectify in "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel," a leisurely biography that's very much like his glossy magazine: an easy sell because of the busty bombshells found within its pages, but just as seductive for its willingness to inject itself into the politics and culture of the era.
Alongside the centerfolds, Berman offers up a different definition of T & A in regards to Hefner, chronicling his tenacity and ambition as an innovator of cross-platform media, a savvy tastemaker, and a champion of the First Amendment who used his many outlets...
- 8/2/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Toronto -- Cannes regular Hugh Hefner is bringing his Playboy party to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Hefner said he'll be in Toronto with his "girlfriends" as part of the PR and party parade for the world premiere of "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel," by Oscar-winning doc maker Brigitte Berman.
Turns out Hefner broke more than sexual taboos after launching the Playboy magazine in 1953, as he campaigned for civil rights and free speech, and put blacklisted and black American performers on his "Playboy After Dark" and "Playboy's Penthouse" TV shows when they couldn't appear elsewhere on national TV.
"Here's an opportunity to have this other side of me, a more serious one, explored by someone as talented as Brigitte Berman and having it done by a woman and a Canadian with the support of the Canadian government, it's all very complementary," Hefner said.
The Playboy founder said he...
Hefner said he'll be in Toronto with his "girlfriends" as part of the PR and party parade for the world premiere of "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel," by Oscar-winning doc maker Brigitte Berman.
Turns out Hefner broke more than sexual taboos after launching the Playboy magazine in 1953, as he campaigned for civil rights and free speech, and put blacklisted and black American performers on his "Playboy After Dark" and "Playboy's Penthouse" TV shows when they couldn't appear elsewhere on national TV.
"Here's an opportunity to have this other side of me, a more serious one, explored by someone as talented as Brigitte Berman and having it done by a woman and a Canadian with the support of the Canadian government, it's all very complementary," Hefner said.
The Playboy founder said he...
- 9/1/2009
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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