- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Film 'flips the angle' on iconic Thelonious Monk interview
Half a century after jazz great Thelonious Monk appeared on a French television program, a new documentary revisits outtakes from the 1969 interview to cast light on the racism and exploitation of black musicians.
When Monk met fellow musician and French TV producer Henri Renaud at a studio in Paris, it was a chance for the renowned pianist and composer to promote his music in Europe.
Previously unused footage from their interview features in "Rewind and Play", a new documentary that French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis says "flips the angle" on the power dynamics between the men.
"I wanted to show the machine that manufactures points of view, which are anything but neutral -- and how TV portrayed black musicians at that time," he told AFP in an interview following his film's screening at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
In his day, Monk was one of the United States' most celebrated black musicians.
The film's most revealing footage comes as he tells Renaud he believes he is being economically exploited.
"I was the star, people were coming to see it, but I wasn't getting the money," Monk says.
Visibly upset, Renaud tells his producer to delete the scene and asks the question again.
"I had no idea I'd made my popularity in France until I got over here," Monk says, while seated at a piano.
He explains he only understood his fame when seeing his photo on the cover of a jazz magazine.
Despite that, he continues, he struggled to find musicians to play with.
"I was getting less money than anybody," Monk says, chuckling. "That's what happened."
After translating the comments for the camera, Renaud says: "I think it's better to erase this bit... it's disparaging what he's saying, best not to talk about it."
When Monk begins to tell the story for a third time, Renaud asks him to talk about something else.
"It's no secret, is it?" Monk asks.
"No, but it's not nice," Renaud responds.
As a pianist, Monk was a talented improviser and was credited with helping to develop the bebop style. He produced a string of hits in the jazz standards library, including "Round Midnight" -- famously interpreted by Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
But the interactions with Renaud are little short of cringeworthy.
- 'Spitting in the soup' -
Gomis, whose previous work "Felicite" won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, offers a critique of how Renaud selected which footage to use.
"He builds an embarrassing, subjective representation of (Monk) and doesn't let him break out of that framework," Gomis said.
The film opens with Renaud leaning on a piano and introducing Monk, who sits at the keys sweating profusely and looking awkward.
"It's like he's saying, 'Why are you spitting in the soup?' (biting the hand that feeds). Throughout the interview, you can feel that condescension."
Gomis says Renaud reveals his privileged background when he asks incredulously why Monk put his piano in the kitchen.
Monk responds that it was the only place in the home that it would fit.
For a musician of his background, "putting a piano in a kitchen was not a fantasy," Gomis said.
Monk was born in North Carolina in 1917 but grew up in New York's San Juan Hill -- a poor district that was later demolished and became Manhattan's exclusive Upper West Side.
Gomis plans to make a full-length biopic on Monk and hopes "Rewind and Play", due to hit French screens in 2023, will help "deconstruct" the exchange.
"We often think of the archive as objective testimony," he said. "But it puts across the point of view of the one who makes it."
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN