NJPAC in association with the Newark Museum of Art will be hosting a free screening of Amazing Grace at Express Newark.
The film is a documentary presenting legendary Aretha Franklin with choir at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles in January 1972. The film features Aretha Franklin recording her 1972 live album of the same name. It co-stars: James Cleveland, C. L. Franklin, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Clara Ward, with cameos by Mick Jagger, Sydney Pollack, and Charlie Watts. The film’s release was attempted multiple times, but was halted for different reasons. After Franklin’s death in 2018, her family made an arrangement to release the film, which premiered at the Doc NYC in 2018, before being released worldwide on 5 April 2019 to critical acclaim.
Following the screening there will be a panel moderated by Sheila Anderson of WBGO and panelists include:
- Mark Conklin, Director, Artist Relations & Programming, GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center
- Dr. Melanie Hill, Department of English, Rutgers University, Newark
