Welcome to The DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…
In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Jamila Wignot about her documentary Ailey.
Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. Directed by Jamila Wignot, the celebrated documentary is an immersive profile of ground-breaking and influential choreographer Alvin Ailey, founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ailey captures the brilliant and enigmatic man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, was determined to build one that would.
Ailey is a sensorial, archival-rich story that traces the full contours of this extraordinary artist’s biography and connects his past to our present with an intimate glimpse into the Ailey studios today, where we follow innovative hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris as he conceives a new dance inspired by Ailey’s life.
Using never-before-heard audio interviews recorded in the last year of his life, we experience Ailey’s astonishing journey in his words.
Ailey is released in cinemas and on demand from 7th January.
Ross Whitaker is a documentary filmmaker (Katie, The Boys in Green, Between Land and Sea) and is a former editor of Film Ireland Magazine and programmer of the IFI Dublin Documentary Film Festival @RossWhitakerTV
Ross’ latest documentary, Barney Curley: The Man Who Beat The Bookies, is currently available to watch on the RTE Player.
Podcast music composed by michaelflemingmusic.com
Film Ireland Podcasts
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