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Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
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Mavis! Stories of the Storied Singer Born in 1939, Mavis Staples has released a new album, and as of this writing she is on tour.
Written, produced, and directed by Jessica Edwards, co-produced by Rachel Mills, and edited by Amy Foote, “Mavis!” is the perfect biographical documentary of Mavis Staples.
Each of us members of Staples’s fan-base have a different story of our discovery of the powerful singer. I was late-bloomer. It was ‘3 Ships,’ an obscure album of Christmas songs released by Jon Anderson in 1985. The album included an obvious choice: ‘O, Holy Night.’ A deeply powerful voice all of a sudden emerged, singing one of the song’s verses. Who is that!?
“Mavis!” answers that question, and does so with the same high, loving spirit that directs and infuses the singer’s entire life.
The film includes appearances by Levon Helm, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, and Prince.