"Sound of Redemption" tells the story of a lesser-known name in the canon of influential jazz musicians, gifted saxophone player Frank Morgan. Highly respected by musicians and fans of the bebop genre, his life and career were stifled by the 30 years he spent cycling in and out of San Quentin prison. The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival, accompanied by a musical tribute to Morgan at the Grammy Museum. N.C. Heikin, director of the 2009 North Korean refugee documentary "Kimjongilia," looks to weave an inspiring tale out of Morgan's turbulent life and eventual comeback, but what results is a story not much different from those of the scores of other artists...
- 6/20/2014
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
Jazz alto saxophonist Frank Morgan, often referred to as Charlie Parker's protege, had a rap sheet that would give supposed outlaw Johnny Cash a run for his money. A heroin addict, Morgan spent most of his life in and out of prison for a variety of crimes including bank robbery and check forgery; in "Sound of Redemption: A Frank Morgan Story" director N.C. Heikin (whose documentary about North Korean defectors, "Kimjongilia," was nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury prize back in 2009) chronicles a recent tribute concert held at San Quentin State Prison in Morgan's honor. The concert, in turn, provides Heikin with the framework from which to recount Morgan's life story. In addition to interviews with fellow musicians and family members, the film contains archive clips of Morgan (who passed away in 2007) discussing his troubled past. At one point in the trailer, he says, "You have to care about yourself,...
- 5/22/2014
- by Shipra Gupta
- Indiewire
The Economist Film Project, which I wrote about previously in this interview with editorial director Gideon Lichfeld, has just launched its website. At the site, viewers can watch the short documentary excerpts that appear via the project on the PBS News Hour. For example, embedded below is the debut offering, Dawn Sinclair Shapiro’s The Edge of Joy, about maternal healthcare in Nigeria. Also up on the site now are excerpts from Robin Hessman’s My Perestroika, N.C. Heikin’s Kimjongilia, and Adam Wakeling’s Up in Smoke.
The website follows a Variety article on The Economist Film Project, which states that it’s now a prime publicity item for any documentary film. From the piece by Marc Graser:
More than 930 submissions have been received to date, with 1,000 expected by the end of the summer. Without much promotion, the project’s site has attracted 160,000 unique visitors. It’s not surprising why.
The website follows a Variety article on The Economist Film Project, which states that it’s now a prime publicity item for any documentary film. From the piece by Marc Graser:
More than 930 submissions have been received to date, with 1,000 expected by the end of the summer. Without much promotion, the project’s site has attracted 160,000 unique visitors. It’s not surprising why.
- 7/14/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The inmate is forced to kneel in a 3 foot square box, motionless for months, until he or she dies. This is a description of the "punishment cell", the final stage of incarceration for North Koreans who are considered dangerous for the regime. It is estimated that 23,000 North Koreans are at this moment locked up in about 20 concentration camps scattered about the country, perhaps since the 1950s, when the elder Kim (Kim Il Sung) was in power. At the recent Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in Greece, more than four documentaries focused on the horrors of North Korea. An eye-opening introduction to the horrors is N.C. Heikin's Kimjongilia, or the The Flower of Kim Jong Il. The film intersperses state propaganda celebrating the regime -- pretty women in uniforms...
- 4/21/2010
- by Karin Badt
- Huffington Post
Kimjongilia, N.C. Heikin’s documentary about the experiences of North Korean refugees and of those who managed to escape from Kim Jong Il’s concentration camps, has its New York theatrical premiere at Cinema Village on March 19. The text below is from the fim’s press release: Lorber Films is pleased to present the New York theatrical premiere of Kimjongilia, N.C. Heikin’s unblinking indictment of life in North Korea under the dictatorship of Kim Jong Il. This searing examination of the communist dictatorship established by Kim Il-sung and continued today by his son Kim Jong-il dispels the illusion of a Worker’s Paradise peddled by the North Korean government and exposes the injustice, tragedy and famine that has prevailed over the past forty [...]...
- 2/26/2010
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
I'm sure that my parents who used the famine in Ethiopia guilt trip on me when I didn't want to finish my plate had no idea that they could throw in North Korea in their discourse. - I'm sure that my parents who used the famine in Ethiopia guilt trip on me when I didn't want to finish my plate had no idea that they could throw in North Korea in their discourse. My favorite publicist tried to get me to include this Sundance doc among my coverage, I passed, but I'll finally get the opportunity to catch N.C. Heikin's Kimjongilia , a doc film that like Team America paints an accurate and unflattering image of the lousy Kim Jong Il government. Lorber Films will release the doc in 2010. Kimjongilia, The Flower of Kim Jong Il, is the first film to fully expose the disaster through a tapestry of defectors’ stories,...
- 12/13/2009
- by Ioncinema.com Staff
- IONCINEMA.com
When Oj Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, it seemed only a video of the actual murder would have convinced the out-of-touch jurors of his brutal crime. Kimjongilia, the new documentary directed by N.C. Heikin, is enough proof-on-film to convict North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il of mass murder, terrorism, and sadistic insanity. Like Chaplin's exposure of the holocaust in The Great Dictator, Kimjongilia forces us to face one man's deadly hell through his victim's blood and tears. The documentary mixes victims' first-person tales with cold facts to lay bare the hell behind the rhetoric of North Korea. Darfur has been a pet cause of celebrities for months and months. With Kimjongilia, North Korea is another atrocity for even the most na...
- 8/20/2009
- by Tom Gregory
- Huffington Post
The Sundance Film Festival had it's first major deal go down Saturday night as young distributor Senator Entertainment (in a co-venture with Sony Pictures Worldwide) picked up North American rights to Antoine Fuqua's admittedly unfinished Brooklyn's Finest for a price tag of less than $5 million (with a marketing commitment of $10 million). Other acquisitions made just before and since the festival began include the following: Visit Films purchased worldwide rights to Ry Russo-Young's You Won't Miss Me, N.C. Heikin's Korean War documentary Kimjongilia and David Russo's comedy <a href=" ...
- 1/19/2009
- by Christopher Campbell
- Spout
The Sundance Film Festival had it's first major deal go down Saturday night as young distributor Senator Entertainment (in a co-venture with Sony Pictures Worldwide) picked up North American rights to Antoine Fuqua's admittedly unfinished Brooklyn's Finest for a price tag of less than $5 million (with a marketing commitment of $10 million). Other acquisitions made just before and since the festival began include the following: Visit Films purchased worldwide rights to Ry Russo-Young's You Won't Miss Me, N.C. Heikin's Korean War documentary Kimjongilia and David Russo's comedy <a href=" ...
- 1/19/2009
- by Christopher Campbell
- Spout
I am heading out the door and have no time to really dig into this, but here is the line-up for next year's 2009 Sundance Film Festival as reported by Variety. Dramatic Competition Adam, directed and written by Max Mayer ("Better Living"), about a slightly dysfunctional man's attempt at a relationship with an alluring new neighbor. Stars Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison. Amreeka, directed and written by Cherien Dabis, a drama examining the challenges faced by a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son upon moving to rural Illinois. With Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem. Arlen Faber, directed and written by John Hindman, about the intrusion of two strangers into the life of a famous reclusive author. With Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Pucci, Olivia Thirlby, Kat Dennings. Big Fan, directed and written by Robert Siegel (writer of "The Wrestler"), which hinges on the reaction of a...
- 12/3/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Oh I'm so excited! One of the best fests of the year! The 2009 Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its U.S. and World competitions for dramatic and documentary features. The non-competitive sections including Premieres, Spectrum, Midnight, and New Frontiers will be announced December 4. Sundance unspools January 15-25, 2009 in Park City, Utah.
Check out the film list after the break. via Variety.
Dramatic Competition
* Adam (Max Mayer)
* Amreeka (Cherien Dabis)
* Big Fan (Robert Siegel)
* Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (John Krasinski)
* Cold Souls (Sophie Barthes)
* Dare (Adam Salky)
* Don’t Let Me Drown (Cruz Angeles)
* The Dream of the Romans (John Hindman)
* The Greatest (Shana Feste)
* Humpday (Lynn Shelton)
* Paper Heart (Nicolas Jasenovec)
* Peter and Vandy (Jay Dipietro)
* Push (Lee Daniels)
* Sin nombre (Cary Fukunaga)
* Taking Chance (Ross Katz)
* Toe to Toe (Emily Abt)
Documentary Competition
* Art and Copy (Doug Pray)
* Boy Interrupted (Dana Perry)
* Sergio (Greg Barker...
Check out the film list after the break. via Variety.
Dramatic Competition
* Adam (Max Mayer)
* Amreeka (Cherien Dabis)
* Big Fan (Robert Siegel)
* Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (John Krasinski)
* Cold Souls (Sophie Barthes)
* Dare (Adam Salky)
* Don’t Let Me Drown (Cruz Angeles)
* The Dream of the Romans (John Hindman)
* The Greatest (Shana Feste)
* Humpday (Lynn Shelton)
* Paper Heart (Nicolas Jasenovec)
* Peter and Vandy (Jay Dipietro)
* Push (Lee Daniels)
* Sin nombre (Cary Fukunaga)
* Taking Chance (Ross Katz)
* Toe to Toe (Emily Abt)
Documentary Competition
* Art and Copy (Doug Pray)
* Boy Interrupted (Dana Perry)
* Sergio (Greg Barker...
- 12/3/2008
- QuietEarth.us
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