James Brown, Miriam Makeba, B.B. King, Celia Cruz, The Crusaders, Sister Sledge, Big Black, Bill Withers - sie alle sind mit von der Partie, als 1974 im damaligen Zaire ein nie da gewesenes Kulturereignis stattfindet: Eine Art Gipfeltreffen zwischen afroamerikanischen Soulgrössen und afrikanischen Top Acts, das legendäre African Woodstock. Vereint in ihrer Leidenschaft für die Musik und beseelt von der Black Power der späten 60er Jahre, feiern sie in Kinshasa ihre gemeinsamen Wurzeln und die pure Lebensfreude. Die drei Konzerte waren ursprünglich als Rahmenprogramm zum Boxkampf zwischen Muhammad Ali und George Foreman gedacht, der im Film «When We Where Kings» im Zentrum stand. Nun schöpft Cutter Jeffrey Levy-Hinte aus dem umfangreichen Filmmaterial, das damals unbeachtet blieb, und richtet den Fokus auf die Musik. Mit vier Kameras vor Ort ist er immer mitten im Geschehen und auf Augenhöhe mit den Stars. Die ungewöhnlichen Szenen, unterlegt mit den erfrischenden rapähnlichen Statements von Muhammad Ali, vermitteln das Lebensgefühl jener Zeit: «I say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud.» SOUL POWER beglückt mit einer unvergesslichen Zeitreise zurück zu einem Ereignis, das nicht nur einen wichtigen Punkt in der Geschichte markiert, sondern auch eine Brücke schlägt zu den geschichtsträchtigen US-Präsidentschaftswahlen 2009. Ein Dokument der US-Bürgerrechtsbewegung auch, voller Musik, Soul, Power und Klassiker wie Makeba's "The Click Song", King's "The Thrill Is Gone" und natürlich Brown's "Soul Power". Mehr als 30 Jahre später erweckt der Film «Soul Power» das Musikfestival zu neuem Leben und ermöglicht so einen Blick auf jene Zeit, als der musikalische Austausch zwischen den beiden Kontinenten gerade begann.


DIE M U S I K
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SOUL POWER
Written by James Brown
Performed by James Brown & the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Crited Music, Inc. (BMI)

BAKOBOSANA
Written by Lita Bembo
Performed by Lita Bembo & Les Stukas
All rights reserved - Tous droits réservés

I'LL NEVER LET YOU BREAK MY HEART AGAIN
Written by Fred Wesley, Charles Bobbit, Reggie Bryan
Performed by “Sweet" Charles Sherrell and the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)

ONE OF A KIND (LOVE AFFAIR)
Written by Joseph B. Jefferson
Performed by The Spinners
Under License from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)

SIMBA NKONI
Written by François “Franco” Luambo Makiadi
Performed by OK Jazz featuring Franco
All rights reserved - Tous droits réservés

HOPE SHE’LL BE HAPPIER
Written by Bill Withers
Performed by Bill Withers
Under license from Songs of Universal, Inc.
on behalf of Interior Music Corp. (BMI)

THE CLICK SONG
Written by The Manhattan Brothers
Performed by Miriam Makeba
Under license from Makeba Music Company

ON AND ON
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by Sister Sledge
Under License from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
on behalf of Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
and Todd Mayfield Publishing (BMI)

THRILL IS GONE
Written by Rick Ravon Darnell and Roy Hawkins
Performed by B.B. King
Under license from Universal Music-Careers (BMI)

PUT IT WHERE YOU WANT IT
Written by Joe Sample
Performed by the Crusaders
Under license from Chrysalis Songs (BMI)

QUIMBARA
Written by Junior Cepeda
Performed by Celia Cruz and the Fania All Stars
Under license from Universal –Musica Unica Publishing
on behalf of Fania Music (BMI)

PONTE DURO
Written by Johnny Pacheco
Performed by the Fania All Stars
Under license from Universal - Musica Unica Publishing
on behalf of Fania Music (BMI)

BONJOUR L’AFRIQUE
Written by Big Black
Performed by Big Black
Published by Jokot

SELI-JA
Written by Tabu Ley Rochereau
Performed by Tabu Ley Rochereau & L’Afrisa International
Under License from EMI Blackwood Music, Inc.

PAYBACK
Written by James Brown, John H. Starks, and Fred Wesley
Performed by James Brown & the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)

COLD SWEAT
Written by James Brown and Alfred James Ellis
Performed by James Brown & the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)

I CAN’T STAND MYSELF (WHEN YOU TOUCH ME)
Written by James Brown
Performed by James Brown & the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)

SAY IT LOUD (I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD)
Written by James Brown and Alfred James Ellis
Performed by James Brown & the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)
.
SAME BEAT
Written by James Brown
Performed by Fred Wesley and the J.B.’s
Under License from Unichappell Music, Inc.
on behalf of Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)

«SOUL POWER ist ein rührendes, nostalgisches, witziges und sehenswertes Dokument.»

SonntagsZeitung



«Un puissant documentaire qui restitue la fièvre et l’énergie de cette fête. A voir absolument.»

Vibrations



«Un récit haletant.»

Le Temps



«Soul Power confronte deux mondes opposés avec brio. Excellent.»

24H



«Soul Power est plus proche du cinéma vérité à la Pennebaker ou Wiseman que du simple concert filmé. Le film du mois.»

Rock&Folk



«Filmés selon les normes esthétiques et techniques des seventies, les artistes donnent plus d'une fois l'envie de se lever de son fauteuil pour danser.»

Les Inrockuptibles



«Ce bel hommage à la musique noire n’a finalement qu’un défaut: c’est trop court!»

Pariscope



«A unique moment in time is now on record.»

SCREEN INTERNATIONAL



«A fast-paced overview of the event that showcases both Ali and Brown at the pinnacle of their powers…emotional high points are numerous.»

VARIETY



«The new movie stands both as a marvellous companion piece and as its own invaluable slice of history.»

NOW MAGAZINE



«Jeffrey Levy-Hinte…delivers on all fronts. Soul power is fun and beautiful to watch.»

INDIEWIRE



«Originally planned to coincide with the Ali-Foreman Rumble in the Jungle, the concert was, as “Soul Power” makes clear, a logistical nightmare and an artistic triumph…And there are also wonderful contrasts and startling shifts of tone. There is a transcendent vitality of “Soul Power”.»

THE NEW YORK TIMES



«The performances are exhilarating.»

EYEWEEKLY



«Jeffrey Levy-Hinte recognized that another film was waiting to be made. With “Soul Power”, he finally brings this work to fruition. None of the footage has ever been seen…the film plays like a time capsule

SPOUT



There’s an awful lot to like about this infectious celebration of a remarkable event featuring some superb, larger-than-life performers at the top of their game-»

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER



«Jeffrey Levy-Hinte has brought the disparate and unedited film of Zaire ‘74 together into one coherent form for the first time.»

LOVE FILM



«An epic trip back to 1974.»

THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE



«Muhammad Ali and George Foreman's 1974 fight in Kinshasa—the "Rumble in the Jungle"—was an instant legend, but no less momentous was the music festival that accompanied it. A forceful and exuberant declaration of ethnic empowerment, Zaïre 74 brought together some of the best African-American and native African soul musicians—Soul Brother Number One, James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba, Celia Cruz, The Crusaders, Sister Sledge, and others—for three days of electrifying, at times explosive performances.»

Tribeca Festival

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