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

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Ice T/Bella Thorne/Ms. Lauryn Hill (2015)

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Soundtracks

Don't Smoke in Bed
Written by Willard Robison
Published by Universal Music Corp /ASCAP
Performed by Nina Simone, originally recorded for Bethlehem Records © 1958
License Courtesy of Verse Music Group

User Reviews

Very compelling documentary.

The documentary does a great job of telling the story of Nina Simone, though archive footage and interviews by those close to her, like her own daughter.

The documentary seems to focus on her erratic behavior, which caused her career to take a downfall.

I thought the filmmakers did a great job of actually expressing her behavior. It really captured the changes in her life from moment to moment. The way it just cut from one time to another made me feel the passion and understand how Nina must have felt when she got into the Civil Rights movement.

I did not know much about Nina Simone before the doc, only that people would tell me she was great, but the documentary showed me how great she was. It did a good job of connecting her with the viewer.

Catch it on Netflix.