Aretha Franklin ‘Amazing Grace’ Documentary Film Finally Set For Release

Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace documentary concert film will finally be released. Directed by Sydney Pollack at Los Angeles’ New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in 1972, the long-sheveled footage will officially premiere November 12 at the Doc NYC film festival in New York City.

According to The New York Times, the 87-minute concert film will be shown for one-week engagements in Los Angeles this month and in New York City next month. The Times spoke with producer Alan Elliott who expects a larger release in January, perhaps in conjunction with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday.

Aretha Franklin released the double LP Amazing Grace in 1972 and it would go on to become the best-selling album in her illustrious career. Issues with synchronizing the audio and video recordings led to Pollack and Warner Bros. abandoning the planned documentary film following the album’s release. Elliott later secured the rights to the film before Pollack’s death in 2008 and has been attempting to get the film released ever since.