Getting right down to business (perhaps deceptively so), Who Is Gil Scott-Heron?—the new documentary about the iconic, but still underappreciated, musician/poet Gil Scott-Heron—seeks to address just who exactly their subject was via a sit-down with friends and family, teasing out a more well-articulated understanding of the enigmatic figure.
If you think that sounds straight-forward, keep in mind that the filmmakers who made this project—Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard—also made the genre-collapsing Nick Cave docu-drama 20,000 Days on Earth last year, so it probably won’t be a Ken Burns–type of affair.
To give you a more concrete idea of what it’s like, you can watch the first ten minutes over at Scott-Heron’s site now.
Before getting a wider release, Who Is Gil Scott-Heron? is set for a few select US screenings over the next few weeks, with more to be added this summer. Dates for those initial screenings below.
Who Is Gil Scott-Heron? screenings
May
28 – Los Angeles, CA – Regent Theatre
June
4 – Portland, OR – Hollywood Theatre
12 – Burlington, VT – Merrill’s Roxy Cinema
14 – Bellingham, WA – Pickford Film Center
