Spirit Unforgettable

Spirit Unforgettable
Directed by Pete McCormack
Produced by Pete McCormack
Ben Murray
Starring Spirit of the West
Music by Schaun Tozer
Cinematography Ian Kerr
Edited by Tony Kent
Production
company
Bell Media
Little Kingdom Productions
Project 10 Productions
Release dates
  • April 30, 2016 (2016-04-30) (Hot Docs)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country Canada
Language English

Spirit Unforgettable is a Canadian documentary film, which premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2016.[1] Directed by Pete McCormack,[2] the film profiles the Canadian folk rock band Spirit of the West in preparation for a 2015 concert at Massey Hall, as part of their farewell tour following lead singer John Mann's diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.[2]

At the time of the Massey Hall concert, it was possible but not definitive that due to Mann's cognitive decline, the show may have become the band's last-ever concert performance.[2] The band did, however, ultimately perform a few more times following the show, most notably for a three-night series of finale performances at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom in April 2016.

McCormack, a longtime friend of the band, invested $100,000 of his own money in the film up front, telling The Globe and Mail that "I had to go and dive in right away … funding or no funding, because of the disease."[3] The film did later secure funding, including a completion grant from the Shaw Media/Hot Docs Fund.[4]

Many critics have singled out the band's live performance of their signature song "Home for a Rest", near the end of the film, as its life-affirming emotional climax.[1][5]

The film is also slated to air on HBO Canada later in 2016.[2]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.