Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Kamasi Washington has announced that he will be premiering a highly-anticipated new short film at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, which takes place in Park City, Utah, on January 24-February 3.
The short film, titled As Told to G/D Thyself, was inspired by and features the music of his second album, Heaven and Earth, released on June 22. Washington co-directed the film alongside Terence Nance, Jenn Nkiru, Marc Thomas and Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young. Together, they form a collective, calling themselves Ummah Chroma.
As Told to G/D Thyself is not Washington’s first foray into film. Last year, he released his 14-minute track, “Truth,” alongside an AG Rojas directed short feature (which you can watch via the player below), and in 2015, he scored The Color Guard, a short comedy feature directed by James Alexander Warren from Ray Ban’s Never Hide Film series.
A major documentary on the legendary Miles Davis, titled Miles Davis: Birth of Cool, directed by Stanley Nelson is also to have its world premiere at Sundance next year. This documentary will be featured in the festival’s Documentary Premieres strand, alongside two other major music documentaries: one on rock legend David Crosby and the other on singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.
Feature photo by Victor Diaz Lamich.
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