Nina Simone went from being a talented jazz and classical pianist to a highly political human rights activist. In the film, Liz Garbus weaves together film documents, interviews and, of course, the music of this inimitable singer to create an atmospheric portrait.
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. Weaving rare archival footage, interviews of her loved ones (among whom her daughter Lisa) and never-before-heard recordings, What Happened, Miss Simone? explores the atypical career of one of the least understood, yet most cherished, artists of our time.
Directed by Liz Garbus
USA, 2014, Documentary, Feature
With Lisa Simone Kelly, James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Walter Cronkite, Stanley Crouch
Director: Liz Garbus
Cinematographers: Igor Martinovic, Rachel Morrison, Ronan Killeen
Editor: Joshua L. Pearson
Executive Producers: Sidney Beaumont, Jon Kamen, Lisa Nishimura, Adam Del Deo, Lisa Simone Kelly
Producers: Amy Hobby, Liz Garbus, Justin Wilkes, Jayson Jackson
Production Designer: Markus Kirschner
COMPANY: Moxie Firecracker Films
EMAIL: lbridges@moxiefirecracker.com
PHONE: +1 718-230-5111
2015 | Berlinale, Germany
* Selection - Panorama
* International Premiere
www.berlinale.de