Wattstax

(Mel Stuart, US 1973, 103 min., 35mm)

On August 20, 1972, a special benefit concert for the Southern California community of Watts was held before a screaming crowd of 100,000 in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Featuring every major R&B artist then appearing on Stax Records: Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays, Johnnie Taylor, and many more, the concert footage is interspersed with clips of the 1965 Watts riots, interviews with residents, and hilarious monologues from Richard Pryor. This new edition, restored in 2003, features revamped sound and the restoration of two Isaac Hayes numbers.