Black History Month
Happy Black History Month! For this year’s celebration, a documentary on black music is getting its wide-release via video-on-demand. Directed by Emmy-award winner Mustapha Khan, Song for Our People is an ode to black history. The award-winning film chronicles activist musicians as they record an anthem written by Khan to honor black ancestors. That is, Khan’s song imagines an ancestor who was once enslaved posing this question: “What have you done with your freedom?”
Song for Our People made the rounds at film festivals in 2019, picking up numerous awards along the way. These include the Audience Award at both the 2019 Awareness Film Festival and the 2019 Fine Arts Film Festival. Likewise, the film also won the Best Music Award at last year’s Doc Utah International Film Festival.
The director Mustapha Khan also made House on Fire, an award-winning documentary about the AIDS epidemic in Black America. Moreover, he has over twenty years of experience in film-making, Song for Our People is just the latest award-winner he’s released.
In addition to star power behind the camera, Song For Our People features musicians Omar Edwards, Jessie Wagner, Clark Gayton, Tashan, Ralph Rolle, Normie B, Elsa Cornish, Jeremy Pelt, Don Braden, and Kenny Vaughan.
Watch the trailer and read a brief synopsis below.
Documentary Synopsis
Courtesy of Songforourpeople.com:
Go behind the scenes of an unforgettable recording session where an extraordinary group of musical artists come together to create a powerful new anthem to honor their ancestors and to celebrate Black lives. Featuring acclaimed New York musicians, singers, poets and a tap dance phenom, Song For Our People is a captivating look inside the creative process of collaborating artists, and an inspiring testament to the power of a committed community to create both art and social change.
Gravitas Ventures and Red Arrow Studios is distributing the film. Mustapha Khan Films produced it. Song for Our People will be available on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, and other platforms on February 9th.
Music Daily is celebrating Black History Month. So you can check out our Featured BHM banner for more stories focused on black music and history.
