I Heard It Through The Grapevine (12*) + Q&A with Dick Fontaine and Haden Guest

Dick Fontaine follows the great writer at a pivotal moment late in his life; as he made the difficult return for the first time to key sites of the Civil Rights Movement to reconnect with friends and activists and reflect, often with stark candour, upon the achievements and failures of the struggle for racial justice.

Fontaine uses archive remarkably to make powerfully vivid the experience of Baldwin and legendary figures such as Fred Shuttlesworth and Amira Baraka, whose searing testimony speak with startling relevance today.

Carefully structured as a conversation between Baldwin and his brother, this newly restored film offers a multi-layered meditation on history and memory; it is a vital resource for the important critical reappraisal of Baldwin’s late career now being studied by the likes of Eddie Glaude, Jr. and Robert Reid-Pharr.