Adam Graham The Detroit News Published 11:45 PM EST Nov 9, 2018 When Aretha Franklin’s long-buried concert film “Amazing Grace” is finally seen by audiences, producer Tirrell Whittley doesn’t expect it to be a passive experience. “I’m looking for a certain level of up front energy and anticipation,” says Whittley. “I want people to feel the energy out the gate.” The first test comes Monday at New York’s DOC NYC festival, where the 1972 film will be publicly unveiled after decades of drama. The film sat unfinished for years, marred by technical issues, and was later the subject of legal wrangling that kept it on the shelf. Now that it’s ready to be seen, Whittley doesn’t expect audiences to hold back. “This is a worship film,” says Whittley, who at 46 is as old as the film itself. “This is not the kind of movie you sit quietly and you respect the filmmaking and the cinematography and the sound and the mixing. If you feel like saying, ‘Amen,’ if you feel like throwing your hands up, if a ‘Hallelujah!’ has to come out, if you want to clap or hum or sing along, that’s what this movie is about. I expect the theater not to be quiet.” “Amazing Grace” documents Franklin’s two-night stand at Los Angeles’ New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in January 1972. The Grammy-winning live album from the performance is largely regarded as Franklin’s crowning achievement; it went on to sell 2 million copies, becoming the best-selling album of her career. The… [Read full story]
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