When Gwen Kelly sees black music's role in popular culture, she's reminded of some good movies. "The Wiz," with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, comes to mind. So do "Car Wash" and "Purple Rain" and "The Preacher's Wife."
And so for this year's Black Music Month celebration, Kelly and other organizers are offering a crash course. In addition to events such as a partnership with Fayetteville's First Thursday, Black Music Month organizers will offer a film series that includes three documentaries of some acclaim.
FAQ
Black Music Month
WHEN — Through June 26
WHERE — Various locations in Northwest Arkansas
COST — Free
INFO — bmmcarkansas.com
"This is something I've wanted to do for a long time," says Kelly of offering a movie series.
The series kicked off Thursday with a screening of "Muscle Shoals" at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Following are two documentaries still to come: "Standing in the Shadow of Motown" on June 24 and the Oscar-winning "20 Feet from Stardom" on June 26. Both movies will be screened in NWACC's Shewmaker Center, and both tell a similar story.
"Standing in the Shadow of Motown" profiles The Funk Brothers, who served as backing band on hundreds of Motown classics, including dozens of No. 1 hits.
"20 Feet from Stardom," released in 2013, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It chronicles several backup singers who performed with groups such as The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen but rarely achieved stardom themselves. The success and popularity of "20 Feet from Stardom" convinced Kelly this was the year to start the film series.
Kelly hopes the films show "the contributions of African Americans to our music fabric."
-- Kevin Kinder
NAN What's Up on 06/13/2014