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Mon, Aug 22 at 5:45pm, 8:00pm

WATTSTAX

  • Dir. Mel Stuart
  • USA
  • 1973
  • 102 min.
  • R
  • DCP
  • Assistive Listening
  • Hearing Loop
WATTSTAX

Part of Music City Mondays.

Fifty years ago this week, a roster including the Staples Singers, Rufus Thomas, the Bar-Kays, and Isaac Hayes (on his birthday) took to the stage of the L.A. Coliseum and an audience of 100,000 in a concert put together by Stax Records in commemoration of the 1965 riots in the Los Angeles community of Watts — all captured here in this electrifying concert  film. Also appearing: Richard Pryor, Albert King, Little Milton, and more.

“...A time capsule par excellence, one that starts with a young, afro-haloed Jesse Jackson leading the crowd in his signature anthem ‘I Am Somebody,’ and concludes with Hayes' charismatic renditions of ‘Shaft’ and ‘Soulsville.’ In between is a living, breathing record of black America coming into its own in a self-confident, aware and angry way.” —Desson Howe, Washington Post (2003)

The Belcourt Theatre does not provide advisories about subject matter or potential triggering content, as sensitivities vary from person to person.

Beyond the synopses, trailers and review links on our website, other sources of information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense MediaIMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.