In December 2018, director Alan Elliott was over the moon. Amazing Grace, his long-shelved Aretha Franklin concert film that had faced years of legal setbacks in a battle with the singer’s estate had just set a box office record at New York’s Film Forum, where it opened to qualify for the Academy Awards. In four hours, it had sold out two weeks’ worth of screenings — the biggest presale in the theater’s 48-year history.
By all appearances, the title had all the makings of a hit doc, the kind of movie that garners serious buzz by word-of-mouth. It wasn’t your typical West Village cinephile flocking to the film. Families and older folks showed up to watch the live recording of the most successful gospel album in history.
Across the coast, Spike Lee had hosted an Academy-member screening as part of the campaign to get the movie on the
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