Sing Your Song
- Director: Susanne Rostock
- Theatrical Release Date: January 13, 2012 9:26 AM
- Criticwire: B
- On The Web IMDB Entry
Synopsis: Wonderfully archived, and told with a remarkable sense of intimacy, visual style, and musical panache, Susanne Rostock’s inspiring biographical documentary, Sing Your Song, surveys the life and times of singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte. From his rise to fame as a singer, inspired by Paul Robeson, and his experiences touring a segregated country, to his provocative crossover into Hollywood, Belafonte’s groundbreaking career personifies the American civil rights movement and impacted many other social-justice movements. Rostock reveals Belafonte as a tenacious hands-on activist, who worked intimately with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mobilized celebrities for social justice, participated in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and took action to counter gang violence, prisons, and the incarceration of youth. Because of his beliefs, Belafonte drew unwarranted invasions by the FBI into both his personal life and career, which led to years of struggle. But an indomitable sense of optimism motivates his path even today as he continues to ask, at 82, "What do we do now?" His example may very well inspire you to action. [Synopsis courtesy of Sundance]
READ MORE ABOUT Sing Your SongNews
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HBO Takes TV Rights To Sundance's "Sing Your Song"
Susanne Rostock's Harry Belafonte doc "Sing Your Song" has been picked by HBO Documentary Films for an exclusive premiere on the network this fall, it was announced today. The film - which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and also screened in Berlin, tells the story of singer and activist Bel...
Read More »
Interviews
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Meet the 2011 Sundance Filmmakers | "Sing Your Song" Director Susanne Rostock
Wonderfully archived, and told with a remarkable sense of intimacy, visual style, and musical panache, Susanne Rostock’s inspiring biographical documentary, Sing Your Song, surveys the life and times of singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte. From his rise to fame as a singer, inspired by Paul Robeso...
Read More »
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1 Comment
Areya | November 1, 2011 9:37 AM
What a great film about an awesome performer. In documenting Harry Belafonte's history as an activist, Rostock concurrently depicts a timeline of some of the most charged political events of Belafonte's lifetime and the protest movements that ensued. Belafonte's drive to improve conditions for the disenfranchised populations is truly inspirational. It is hard to believe, that in my lifetime, some of his actions were so "obscene," they elicited cries from corporate interests. Such was the case with his appearance on Petula Clarke's program and the Smother's Brother's show, which was cancelled after Belafonte's performance (and the performance was never aired). This film is, ultimately, timely in its appearance and content. All of the issues that Belafonte has addressed are the outcome of corporate greed run a muck. The film ends with Henry's most recent project; working with incarcerated and at-risk youth; a group with numbers so large world-wide it's mind-boggling. With any luck, this film could inspire those who have similar visions, abilities, interests and where-with-all to take activism to the next level to help change the future for the world's children.