What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."

Director:

Liz Garbus

Stars:

Nina Simone, Lisa Simone Kelly, Roger Nupie

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Nina Simone	...	Herself (archive footage)
Lisa Simone Kelly	...	Herself
Roger Nupie	...	Himself
Al Schackman	...	Himself
George Wein	...	Himself
Stanley Crouch	...	Himself
Andrew Stroud	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dick Gregory	...	Himself
Ilyasah Shabazz	...	Herself
Attallah Shabazz	...	Herself (as Ambassador Shabazz)
Gerrit De Bruin	...	Himself
Eleanor Belinfanti	...	Cast
Gregory Marlow	...	Cast
Elisabeth Henry-Macari	...	Cast: Mrs Mazzanovich (as Elizabeth Henry)

Storyline

On stage Nina Simone was known for her utterly free, uninhibited musical expression, which enthralled audiences and attracted life-long fans. But amid the violent, haunting, and senseless day-to-day of the civil rights era in 1960s America, Simone struggled to reconcile her artistic identity and ambition with her devotion to a movement. Culled from hours of autobiographical tapes, this new film unveils the unmitigated ego of a brilliant artist and the absurdities of her time. At the height of her fame Simone walked away from her family, country, career and fans, to move to Liberia and give up performing. The story of her life leading up to that event poses the question, 'how does royalty stomp around in the mud and still walk with grace?'

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Plot Keywords:

black american | african american | husband wife relationship | singing | song | 

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Taglines:

Her Story. Her Voice.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

24 June 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Nina Simone Film

Company Credits

Production Co:

Moxie Firecracker Films, Netflix, RadicalMedia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lisa Simone Kelly who is Nina Simone's daughter, joined the project as a producer in reaction to her distaste for the biopic Nina (2016)which she believed inaccurately portrayed her mother.

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Quotes

Nina Simone: We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all anymore. So I think we don't have a choice. How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?

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Connections

Featured in Close Up with the Hollywood Reporter: Documentary (2016)

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Soundtracks

Westwind
Written by Caiphus Semenya, William Salter
Published by BMG Ruby Songs/ ASCAP and Antisia Music /ASCAP

User Reviews

Sit Down!

Greetings again from the darkness. Classical pianist, extraordinary singer, highly sought after live performer, Civil Rights activist, and inspiration to so many … it's only fitting that Nina Simone is now the subject of an Oscar nominated documentary. Talented filmmaker Liz Garbus (also Oscar nominated for 1998's The Farm: Angola, USA) provides a biography that is both a deep-dig and somewhat gentle look at this fascinating and troubled woman.

Born Eunice Waymon in North Carolina during the Jim Crow era, she was the church pianist at age 4, and later studied classical piano with the dream of becoming the first black female classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall. While attending Julliard, she worked at an Atlantic City bar where, in an effort to hide the gig from her parents, she created the stage name Nina Simone (after the popular French actress Simone Signoret). It was also at this bar where she was first forced to sing … a step that changed the course of her life.

The film begins by showing her return to the stage at the1976 Montreaux Festival in Switzerland after a seven year self-imposed exile (most recently in Liberia). We then head back to her humble childhood and follow her progression as she blends her Bach-influenced piano style with an expressive vocal style in jazz, gospel, pop, R&B and soul … resulting in the nickname "High Priestess of Soul".

What we see is a woman with remarkable talent and ferocious drive who just never is satisfied with society or her place in it … despite the positive impact she had as a musician and activist. Ms. Garbus uses some rare archival performance footage … such as her singing "I Loves You Porgy" while appearing on Hugh Hefner's "Playboy Penthouse TV show and "Mississippi Goddam" during the march with Martin Luther King. We also hear Nina telling her own story through previously unheard audio recordings, and we have access to diary entries and personal letters. These are combined with insightful interviews from her ex-husband and manager Andrew Stroud, collaborators like Al Shackman (her guitarist) and George Wein (founder of Newport Jazz Festival), and her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly.

What we soon see is a combination of other-worldly talent and a woman filled with rage and depression, and who is isolated inside her own uneasiness. Her later diagnosis and medication for bi-polar syndrome allowed her to better function in those last years. Her lack of attentiveness to her kids is kind of glossed over, but we understand how it made sense for her kids to spend more time at the home of the Shabazz family (Malcolm X) than with their own parents.

It's a shame that Ms. Simone could never appreciate her achievements, the impact she had in the Civil Rights movement and the inspiration her music brought to so many. Even playing Carnegie Hall was not enough for her as she wasn't on stage as the classical pianist of her dreams. Her biggest mainstream musical recognition stemmed from her song "My Baby Just Cares for Me" being used for a1987 Chanel No. 5 advertisement, but fortunately the rest of us can understand her place in history as a rare talent and societal influencer. She truly put a spell on us.