HBO’S Stax documentary to screen in advance in Memphis
“STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.,” an eagerly awaited HBO documentary series chronicling the rise, fall and legacy of the worldshaking Memphis music company that showcased Otis Redding, Carla Thomas and Isaac Hayes, will have a public sneakpreview-style screening at 7 p.m. Friday, May 17, at the Crosstown Theater.
Brooklyn-based filmmaker Jamila Wignot, director of the series, will be at Crosstown to participate in a questionand-answer session after the screening of the hour-long first episode of the series, and to take part in a panel discussion with other Memphis Stax veterans and scholars. A reception will follow. The event is hosted by Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts, in coordination with HBO.
The four-part series debuts at 8 p.m.
Monday, May 20, on HBO/MAX. Two episodes screen that night, with the final two episodes airing at 8 p.m. May 21. Some of the Stax luminaries who will appear in the series, in archival footage and new interviews, include the members of Booker T. & the MG'S; Rufus and Carla Thomas; the Staple Singers; songwriter David Porter; and recent Grammy-winner Deanie Parker, a founder of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, to name a few.
According to HBO publicists, the series tells “a quintessentially American story of an audacious group of individuals who dared to make their own music on their own terms, creating an institution that has continued to help define our culture long after the label itself has gone... This is the story of Stax. As raw and honest as the sounds the label laid to vinyl.”
Tickets are $20, or $15 for Indie Memphis members. For more information or to order tickets in advance, visit indiememphis.com.