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Dear Exhibitors and Programmers,

Please consider this joyful music documentary for your audiences, either for live screenings or for your virtual cinema schedule, now set to open October 29. Let me know if you'd like to see a screener or would live more information.

 
Featured in dozens of festivals, How They Got Over tells the story of how Black gospel quartet music became a primary source of what would be known as rock and roll, and in the process helped to break down racial walls in mid-twentieth century America.

"A straight-up joy to watch!"
-Film Ink

“The essential story of the cross-fertilization between quartet gospel music and rock ‘n roll."
-Billy Price, R&B/Soul singer

“If you love music and want to know about the origins of rock and roll, you must see this film!”
-Terre Roche, The Roche Sisters
Beginning in the 1920s, Black singers across the country took to the highways as the new technology of radio and records made it possible to reach a wider audience. Intense competition brought new ways to entertain, first with guitars, later with full bands, then with a performance style that would inspire Mick Jagger and a host of other rock and rollers.

Their music was infectious, wrecking many a house on the chittlin’ circuit, then graduating in the 40s and 50s to the Apollo and other major auditoriums across the country. The success of gospel quartets inspired record labels to form “doo-wop” groups that enticed gospel singers like Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett to cross over to greater fame.

How They Got Over features classic performance footage of the Soul Stirrers, Dixie Hummingbirds, Blind Boys of Alabama and Mississippi, Sensational Nightingales, Mighty Clouds of Joy, Highway QCs, Davis Sisters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and many more. Some of the greatest names in quartet music are interviewed in the film, giving vivid accounts of how they “got over” in their performances: shouting, bending over backwards, dancing, jumping off the stage – what came to be known as “gospel drama.”

How They Got Over celebrates the spirit of gospel performers and how they helped usher in a musical revolution that changed the world forever.
 
"How They Got Over is a revealing and inspiring look at the massive contribution of gospel music to the spirit and vitality of rock 'n' roll:
an invaluable documentary which combines historical scholarship
with thrilling glimpses of gospel singers, both superstars of the genre and some you'll probably be experiencing for the first time.”

-Robert Hilburn, former pop critic of the Los Angeles Times
& author of biographies of Johnny Cash & Paul Simon

"Filled with insightful commentary as well as rare, spectacular
footage of the masters of quartet in their heyday."

-Billy Price, R&B/Soul singer

“As a lifetime fan of gospel music, I believe this excellent film tells the story and shows the artists in a most compelling way.”
-
Jon Landau, critic, producer, manager, Bruce Springsteen
HOW THEY GOT OVER
A film by Robert Clem
Available beginning October 29 for Live & Virtual Cinemas
87 minutes | color | In English
Optional English captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

 
 
More Films Available Exclusively on Virtual Cinema
 
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A journey through the gritty world, brilliant mind, and noble heart of Nelson Algren, the writer who defined post-war American urban fiction. Featuring John Sayles, William Friedkin, Philip Kaufman, Billy Corgan and more, the film paints an intimate, witty portrait.


"Enlightening for those who don't know Algren at all and thrilling for those who knew the man or his work and his life."
-Chicago Tribune


Opens October 1, 2021    Watch the Trailer
 
Los Hermanos/The Brothers

Two Cuban-born brothers, both virtuoso musicians – Aldo and Ilmar López-Gavilán – live on opposite sides of the geopolitical chasm that separates the U.S. and Cuba. But although they lead very different existences, the brothers have an instinctual connection.


"A moving documentary with generous amounts of music... Electrifying musical collaborations."
-The New York Times


 
Gustav Stickley: American Craftsman

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"Anyone interested in the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1900s will find it a riveting watch." -Film Threat

 

In 1961, JFK gave young Americans the opportunity to serve their country in a new way by forming the Peace Corps. Narrated by Annette Bening, A Towering Task explores the story of the Corps - taking viewers on a journey of what it means to be a global citizen.

"Enlightening and uplifting.
P
uts a human face on the Peace Corps."
-Paul Theroux, Travel Writer & Novelist

Watch the Trailer
 
For screening links and more information
please contact Marc Mauceri
marcm@firstrunfeatures.com | 917-584-8816


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