Now that the 2014 SummerDocs season is off to terrific start*, let’s keep the ball rolling with our second screening, set for Friday, July 25, at Guild Hall of East Hampton.
The award-winning Keep On Keepin’ On will amaze, entertain and inspire you, followed by SummerDocs host Alec Baldwin in conversation with Australian director Al Hicks. Baldwin explains, “Al Hicks’ Keep On Keepin’ On is a moving portrait of not only Clark Terry‘s legacy, but of how one person’s mentorship can make a difference.”
“After another year in which a SummerDocs selection has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary (Twenty Feet From Stardom), we are excited to bring what we see as some of the most exciting voices in documentary films to the Hamptons,” adds Artistic Director David Nugent.
Keep On Keepin’ On
Friday, July 25, 7:30pm
Directed by Al Hicks
In his melodic debut, Australian director Al Hicks spent four years following the charming and sometimes poignant mentorship between jazz-legend Clark Terry and blind piano prodigy Justin Kauflin, during a pivotal moment in each of their lives. At eighty-nine years old, ‘CT’ has played alongside Duke Ellington and Count Basie; his pupils include Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. But his most unlikely friendship is with Justin, a 23-year-old with uncanny talent but debilitating nerves. As Justin prepares for a competition that could jumpstart his budding career, CT’s failing health threatens his own. Beautifully nostalgic, with a reverence for the importance of finding your own sound, Keep On Keepin’ On celebrates an iconic musician while introducing one of equal vibrancy. It is a mentoring tale as inspirational as its subjects.
The film is produced by seven-time Academy Award® nominee Quincy Jones and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen (producer of the Oscar winning The Cove). The film was recently awarded two prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival: Best New Documentary Director (Al Hicks) and the Audience Award (Documentary). RADiUs-TWC film will be releasing the film.
Support for the screening of Keep On Keepin’ On is graciously provided by the Wall Street Journal.
Two more titles—scheduled for Saturday, August 16, and Friday, August 29—will be announced soon. Stay tuned!
The 2014 Summer Docs Audience Award is sponsored by Candescent Films.
Support for the SummerDocs series is also generously provided by Beach Magazine.
*SummerDocs 2014 started with Life Itself, where Roger Ebert‘s wife Chaz talked with series host Alec Baldwin, RogerEbert.com Editor-in-Chief Matt Zoller Seitz and HIFF Artistic Director David Nugent after the screening. The movie is now in theaters; please watch it, and then come back and enjoy the Q&A!
