Production
The story of an underdog, interracial record label that ushered in groundbreaking music.
A look at the life and music of legendary singer and civil rights activist, Mavis Staples.
A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage from the concert with footage of the living conditions in the current-day Watts neighborhood.
Take Me to the River is a film about the soul of American music. The film follows the recording of a new album featuring legends from Stax records and Memphis mentoring and passing on their musical magic to stars and artists of today.
With the founding of Stax Records, the white siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton created a label during the period of racial segregation that caused a revolution in the music scene with artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes. Their commercial success was closely linked to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
"Philip Priestley's acclaimed film charts the history of Stax Records, the influential soul and blues record company founded in the 1960s by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. Featuring music by an impressive roster of stars, including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Carla Thomas, The Soul of Stax chronicles the performers' rise through the industry and popular culture, the role played by many of them in the Civil Rights movement, and the label's eventual decline." - bfi.org.uk
