Ornette: Made in America
Directed by Shirley Clarke
Produced by Kathelin Hoffman Gray

Ornette: Made in America, the epic film of composer Ornette Coleman, has been rereleased in DVD format to coincide with the 2007 Grammy Awards, in which Coleman receives a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Recording Academy has recognized Coleman as a major innovator of the free jazz movement of the 60s and a major influence on contemporary music.

Ornette: Made In America captures Ornette’s evolution over three decades. Returning home to Fort Worth, Texas in 1983 as a famed performer and composer, documentary footage, dramatic scenes, and some of the first music video-style segments ever made, chronicle his boyhood in segregated Texas and his subsequent emergence as an American cultural pioneer and world-class icon. Among those who contribute to the film include William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Buckminster Fuller, Don Cherry, Yoko Ono, Charlie Haden, Robert Palmer, Jayne Cortez and John Rockwell.

Ornette:Made in America is essential for anyone hoping to understand the history of jazz and the fertile creative exchange that highlighted the 60’s and 70’s in America. It is a portrayal of the inner life of an artist-innovator.

Says Deborah Snyder, CEO of Synergetic Press, “The innovative techniques that director Shirley Clarke and producer Kathelin Hoffman employed in this film very closely parallel the music of the man who is its subject, defying traditional documentary format to reveal Ornette’s extraordinary vision through Clarke’s equally-extraordinary filmmaking artistry.”

Critically acclaimed when it released in 1985, the film is even more significant today as Coleman’s influence has increased, while Clarke and Hoffman’s interpretation of his life and times remain as fresh and exciting as ever.”(Some excerpts of reviews of Ornette: Made In America are listed below.)

The film focuses on the struggles and triumphs of Ornette Coleman’s life as well as on the inspired intelligence that spawned his creativity and ensured his success. Clarke’s footage includes Ornette in conversation with family and friends; excerpts of interviews, riffs and travels, along with footage of his performances—in his hometown of Fort Worth, TX, in New York, in Morocco and beyond—presents the most comprehensive record of his career available.

“A unique portrait of a jazz giant.” —San Francisco Chronicle

"A wonderful film of the complex Ornette." —San Francisco Examiner

"A unique project whose composition rejects boundaries…in favor of a more allusive path…the footage is riveting…stunning…definitely valuable."
—The Wire (London)

“This is an experience unique to the medium of film." —L.A. Weekly

"The most influential individual to have emerged in Afro-American art music since Charlie Parker."
—Dallas Morning News

"Clarke thrusts the viewer into his music and his mind."
—Twin Cities Reader (Minneapolis)

"This film is not just a film about a great musician…it is, as the title suggests, also a film about America…and it is brilliant."-
—Richard Roud, Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center .

“Perfect in every way.” Pat Metheny

Starring:
Ornette Coleman/Jamaaladeen Tacuma/Charlee Ellerbee/Albert McDowell/Kamal Sabir/Bern Nix/Denardo Coleman/and featuring William Burroughs/Buckminster Fuller/Charlie Hayden/Viva/Dewy Redman/Ed Blackwell/Don Cherry/Brion Gysin/Robert Palmer/Fort Worth Symphony conducted by John Giordano/San Francisco Symphony/The Master Musicians of Jajouka/Hausa, Ibo and Yoruban Musicians/Gregory Gelman Ensemble/Demon Marshall and Eugene Tatum/Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band/Mari Okuba/George Russell/Gabrielle/Caravan of Dreams Theater Ensemble/Martin Williams/O.C. Allen/John Rockwell/Jayne Cortez/James Stewart/James Jordan/Truvenza Leach/Christine Smith/Roger Hughes Jr/Mayor Bob Bolen/Charles 'Farina' Waters/James Clay/Chutney Dugan/Margaret Augustine/Calvin Weston/Sheila Kelly.

Awards:
Best Soundtrack Award at 14th International Moscow Film Festival/In Top 15 Documentaries of 1985 by International Documentary Association/Award for Innovation by National Black Programming Consortium/Showcase at 1986 National Association of College Activities ConventionFestivals
Cannes/LA/Moscow/Munich/London/Venice/Montreal/San Francisco/Toronto/AmsterdamPress

*DVD-R* media item

80 minutes

$24.95

To rent in 16mm and 35mm show reels
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