Movie Documentary Music
![Say Amen, Somebody (1983)](/media/img/movie/poster/m/9d/a72144af210f3e7a94bd5b7b.jpg)
Pure joy
Documentary on modern black gospel music, focusing on the pioneering Rev. Thomas Dorsey and Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith
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Ray
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
Amazing Grace
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the recording of Aretha Franklin's best-selling album finally sees the light of day more than four decades after the original footage was shot.
Sister Act
A Reno singer witnesses a mob murder and the cops stash her in a nunnery to protect her from the mob's hitmen. The mother superior does not trust her, and takes steps to limit her influence on the other nuns. Eventually the singer rescues the failing choir and begins helping with community projects, which gets her an interview on TV—and identification by the mob.
Gospel Hill
Gospel Hill tells the intersecting story of two men in the fictional South Carolina town of Julia. Danny Glover plays John Malcolm, the son of a slain civil rights activist. Jack Herrod (Tom Bower) is the former sheriff who never got to the bottom of the murder. Their paths begin to cross when a development corporation comes to town with plans to raze Julia's historic Gospel Hill.
One Love
Kassa a free-wheelin rasta man, falls for a straight laced gospel singer Serena, when they both meet as they enter a music contest. Serena's father the pastor forbids her to see him and wants her to marry one of his church members. Meanwhile the record boss organizing the contest, tries to get Kassa's band to sign to his label on his terms not theirs. By using heavy tactics, he pushes the band to fight back.
The Secret Path
A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce Pittman. For years Jo Ann Foley (Madeline Zima) has suffered under the cruel hand of her ruthless grandfather. A chance meeting with kindly neighbors Honey (Reese) and her husband Too Tall (Davis) finds things looking up, however, as the nurturing couple provides Jo Ann with the support needed to break free of her grandfather's tyrannical grip. As the future lies before her ready to be molded however she sees fit, Jo Ann must now find the courage to let go of the past and seek the redemption needed to start life anew.
The Big Beat
Young man just out of college tries to persuade his father, who owns a record company, to start signing up rock 'n' roll acts.
That Rhythm, Those Blues
A documentary covering the R&B (rhythm and blues) field from the 1940s to the early 1950s. Included is footage of performances by major R&B singers of the time, and interviews with singers, producers and others involved in the field.
Kirk Franklin's A Gospel Christmas
When Olivia, a young assistant pastor, gets assigned to be a lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, she's fearful she can't manage the transition, including getting the choir ready to open the town's annual Winter Jamboree. Banding together with her new congregation, Olivia discovers a new home for herself, and even finds a little Christmas romance along the way!
Going to Glory...Come to Jesus
Ethel, is a young Christian woman who is introduce Lillie-Mae Scott, a reverend's daughter, to a wild party girl named Bessie. Bessie is interested in drinking, men, and dancing and tries to lead Lillie-Mae astray. Lillie-Mae sells her soul to the devil in exchange for beauty. Bessie's life is ruined by partying and she becomes a flower selling tramp. Lillie-Mae turns back to the Lord is rebaptized in a river and then wakes up from a dream. She now has religion.
The Soul of a Man
In "The Soul of A Man," director Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of '20s and '30s events - shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James "Blood" Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.
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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Will, a street-smart teenager, moves from the tough streets of West Philly to posh Bel-Air to live with his Uncle Philip, Aunt Vivian, his cousins — spoiled Hilary, preppy Carlton and young Ashley — and their sophisticated British butler, Geoffrey. Though Will’s antics and upbringing contrast greatly with the upper-class lifestyle of his extended relatives, he soon finds himself right at home as a loved part of the family.
Mike & Molly
A comedy about a working class Chicago couple who find love at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from 1971 to 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first host and executive producer. Production was suspended following the 2005–06 season, with a rerun package airing for two years after that. As a nod to Soul Train's longevity, the show's opening sequence contained a claim that it was the "longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history," with over 1,100 episodes produced from the show's debut through the 2005-06 season. Despite the production hiatus, Soul Train will continue to hold this honor until at least 2016, if and when its nearest competitor, Entertainment Tonight, completes its 35th season.
City Lights
Hapless bank clerk Willie Melvin dreams of being a successful writer but is held back by his own incompetence, the dodgy dealings of his best friend Chancer, and lack of support from his mother, the bank's manager Adam McLelland and his obsequious fellow teller, Brian.
The Soul Man
R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballentine was living the high life in Las Vegas at the top of the music charts when he gets the calling to go from soul singer to soul saver. Relocating to St. Louis with his wife, Lolli and his daughter, Lyric to take over the preaching duties in his father's church, his family is not exactly eager to give up the fabulous superstar life for a humble one.
I Was There When House Took Over the World
Nile Rodgers and more on how disco's death gave birth to the most iconic sound in dance.
America Beyond the Color Line
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard's chair of Afro-American Studies, travels the length and breadth of the United States to take the temperature of black America at the start of the new century. He explores this rich and diverse landscape, social as well as geographic, and meets the people who are defining black America, from the most famous and influential to those at the grassroots.
Voices of Fire
Pharrell Williams's hometown community leaders attempt to build one of the world's most inspiring gospel choirs.
Behind Every Man
Hosted by Melody Holt (Love & Marriage: Huntsville), the series’ star-studded lineup includes multi-platinum R&B artist Usher and his mother Jonnetta Patton, gospel music legend Kirk Franklin and his wife Tammy Franklin, multi-Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo and his wife Crystal Smith, artist multi-platinum selling artist Wyclef Jean and his wife Claudinette Jean and DJ and radio host DJ Envy and his wife Gia Casey
American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America
From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From the resulting 400 hours of footage came the five-program series American Patchwork, which aired on PBS in 1991.
Kingdom Business
An exotic dancer with a powerful voice rises from the pole to the pulpit, forcing the reigning queen of gospel to guard her family and its many secrets.
Willie Nelson & Family
The first authorized work exploring the extraordinary life of Willie Nelson traverses the personal and career ups, downs, and in-betweens of one of the world’s most beloved musicians.
Gospel
Dig deep into the origin story of Black gospel music, coming out of slavery, blending with the blues tradition, and soaring to new heights during the Great Migration. From Mahalia to Kirk Franklin, in the last century, gospel music has become the dominant form of African American religious expression and provided a soundtrack of healing and uplift to those at the front lines of protest and change.
Wattstax
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. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Documentary Film.