Celebrating Creativity, Culture & Community in Las Vegas
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2022, 65 minutes
Directed by Alain Gomis
In December 1969, legendary jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk ended his European concert tour with a performance at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Before the show, he was invited to appear on a French television program to perform and answer questions in an intimate setting. Using newly discovered footage from this recording, director Alain Gomis (FÉLICITÉ) reveals the disconnect between Monk and his interviewer, Henri Renaud, whose unwittingly trivializing approach conveys the casual racism and exploitation prevalent in the music industry at large. A fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary with extraordinary rarely-seen performances, REWIND & PLAY offers a unique opportunity to see Monk in a way that very few people did.
“Rewind & Play dazzles! A gleaming portrait of Monk at work.”
— Lisa Kennedy, The New York Times
“A minor masterwork of historical investigation and a fervent tribute to the epochally great musician… Monk’s solo performances [are] spectacular.”
— Richard Brody, The New Yorker
“Gomis’s film illuminates [Monk] in a light in which we’ve rarely seen him.”
— Conor Williams, Reverse Shot
“With Gomis’s arrangement of footage, viewers bear witness to Monk as he subtly challenges his interlocutor… and ultimately Monk’s effortlessly innovative compositions.”
— Anthony Hawley, Hyperallergic
“The brilliance of the film is the efficiency with which it exposes the racist power structures that framed much of Monk’s career, and by extension the careers of so many Black musicians.”
— Darren Hughes, Filmmaker Magazine
Create.Vegas is an independent site not affiliated with event venues or producers.
Events are subject to change without notice.
Consult ticketing & event links for more information.