'Under African Skies'

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's Graceland with the release of new commemorative editions of the enduring pop masterpiece which include the new Graceland documentary 'Under African Skies' on a bonus disc.  Graceland - 25th Anniversary editions will be available Tuesday, June 5.

 

'Under African Skies',  a new documentary film chronicling the controversial recording of Graceland and its subsequent impact--and enduring influence--on world music and pop culture, premiered to rave reviews at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and continues its festival run throughout the spring and early summer. Among its gathering accolades, 'Under African Skies' has been honored at the South By Southwest Film and Music Festival (Audience Award), the Cleveland International Film Festival (Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award), the Nashville Film Festival (Gibson Impact of Music Award), the Banff Festival (Rockie Award - Investigative & Current Affairs Programs) and the Newport Beach Film Festival (Festival Honors Award - Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking).

 

The critically-acclaimed new movie from two-time Emmy and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger ('Brother's Keeper,' 'Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,' the West Memphis Three/'Paradise Lost' trilogy) will have its broadcast debut on the A&E Network on May 25 (10pm Eastern, please check your local listings).

 

 

"Unmissable...," proclaimed Rolling Stone, calling the film "...a cultural lightning bolt that soars on its music and an unshakeable belief in the transcendence of art."

 

"Brilliant! Required viewing! Not to be missed!," raved Access Hollywood, singling out the movie as "One of the best rock-docs ever made!"

 

The Hollywood Reporter called 'Under African Skies' nothing less than "A pure-bliss celebration of Paul Simon's landmark album Graceland."

 

Following a screening at the London Sundance Film Festival, The Times of London's Laura Silverman, in a five-star review, said Under African Skies "... is the first documentary I've ever wanted to get up and dance to.  For the generation that grew up on Paul Simon's Graceland album, the film is a revelation -- politically and musically."

 

"The documentary 'Under African Skies' ... will remind many people of what they love about Graceland, the Paul Simon album whose 25th anniversary the film celebrates," wrote Lawrence Downes in The New York Times (May 5, 2012). "Seeing it will also be a jolt for those who have forgotten the world of bitterness into which it was born...."

 

Festival screenings of 'Under African Skies' include the Maryland Film Festival (May 4-6), IDFA (May 8), Seattle International Film Festival (May 17-June 10), the Human Rights Watch Film Festivals, the Sydney Film Festival (June 6-17) and Jacob Burns (June 22). The film recently completed simultaneous full-week bi-coastal runs (May 11-17) at the Laemmle Monica in Los Angeles and the IFC Center in New York.

 

'Under African Skies' will have its official AMEX premiere at the fabled Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan on Tuesday, June 5.

 

 

'Under African Skies' travels with Paul Simon back to South Africa, a quarter century after the making of Graceland. Paul revisits the making of the record, surveying from the vantage of history the turbulence and controversy surrounding the album's genesis. His artistic decision to collaborate with African musicians created a new world musical fusion, combining American and African musical idioms while igniting an intense political crossfire, with Paul Simon accused of breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime.

 

The universal appeal of the music of Graceland proved more powerful and enduring than the political hotbed attending its creation. In 1986, the album sold 14 million copies worldwide, and received universal praise from critics around the globe. By January of 1987, "You Can Call Me Al" was everywhere and Graceland won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1987. Then, in an unprecedented carryover, the album earned the Song of the Year Grammy with its title track in 1988. The album generated three hit singles--'You Can Call Me Al,' 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' and 'The Boy in the Bubble'--while keeping Paul Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years.

 

"Under African Skies" features interviews with key anti-apartheid activists of the time and such musical legends as Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney and David Byrne.