HBO Picks Up Soul Legend Mavis Staples Doc ‘Mavis!’Posted by Wilson Morales
April 10, 2015
Brooklyn-based production company Film First announced today North American distribution deals for their feature documentary MAVIS! about the life of music legend Mavis Staples, directed by Jessica Edwards. HBO has acquired the U.S. television rights and Films We Like has acquired all rights for Canada. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival where it received a standing ovation. The Q&A was followed by an intimate performance with Mavis Staples at the Paramount Theater.
MAVIS! is the first documentary on gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, The Staple Singers. Beginning in the gospel church, Mavis’ music spans from the freedom songs of the ‘60s and hits like “I’ll Take You There” to funked-up collaborations with Prince and her recent albums with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. Over the course of her unrivaled career, Mavis has stayed true to her roots, kept her family close and reinvented herself as a solo artist at the age of 65. With dynamic live performances, rarely-seen archival footage and conversations with musical legends Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Levon Helm, Chuck D and more, MAVIS! reveals the struggles and successes of her journey and why her message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.
Said Edwards, “We are beyond thrilled to have HBO as our broadcast partner. They’ve always been such a huge supporter of documentary films. We can’t wait to share the inspiration and joy of Mavis’s music and story with HBO viewers, and with audiences across Canada through Films We Like.”
Said Staples, “I’ve been touring since 1954, and I’ve been to all kinds of festivals, but I don’t think I was at a film festival until my movie screened in Austin. That was something else – to sit in the audience and see on that big screen the results of me and Jessica talking, all the old pictures and family performances, to hear these music giants say such nice things about me. I cried all my mascara off. To think that this story about my family and our music will be in theaters and on TV after all this time is just awesome. And being on HBO – that is a thrill. I’m catching up to my guy John Oliver! I am so grateful, knowing all these young people – whole new generations – they want to hear my songs and my family’s story and what I have to say… I’m really blessed.”
The deals were negotiated by Josh Braun and David Koh of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.
The film will screen at the upcoming Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Hot Docs, and the Montclair Film Festival, which will include a post-screening conversation with Stephen Colbert and Mavis Staples. The film will screen at more festivals worldwide through the summer.
