*
FROM THE DIARY OF
JUAN SANCHEZ
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PASSING THROUGH
104 min., narrative, 1977
Producer, Director, Editor
Larry Clark
Co-Writers
Ted Lange and Larry Clark
Cinematography
Roderick Young and George Geddis
Sound
Julie Dash and Carol Yasunaga
Music
The Pan African People's Arkestra
Actors
Nathanial Taylor
Clarence Muse
Pamela Jones
Variety
"An unusual black film that
merited a special fest unveiling."
- G. Moskowitz
The Sun Reporter
"Larry Clark's elegantly photographed dramatic exploration of jazz
and its roots in the African American experience. Passing Through is one
of poignancy, great visual and
musical beauty, and lasting insight."
- P. Magnani
San Francisco Chronicle
"a strong earnest and promising work. .... (Clark) infuses his work
with a vital image of the very real injustices visited upon his characters
by a society that rarely appreciates
them - or their color - fully"
- J. Wasserman
Christian Science Monitor
"Amid the tame and sterile fare we moviegoers have been faced with
in recent years, I found it a salutary shock to enter the Whitney auditorium
and encounter the spontaneity of Larry Clark's
jazzlike Passing.
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PASSING THROUGH is an eloquent and powerful testament to the spirit of Black music. It tells the story of a strong spiritual relationship between an old Black musician, Poppa Harris (Clarence Muse) and a young promising musician, Warmack (Nathaniel Taylor).
Warmack a saxophonist, returns from prison only to struggle with the economic and cultural oppression of the recording industry. Memories of the Black struggle, Attica and Birmingham burn in his mind, while his search for Poppa, his grandfather is his inspiration for the future. Clarence Muse, 87 years old at the time of the filming, performs with all the dignity and sensitivity necessary for the role of culture bearer. Vivid images and music make PASSING THROUGH a film of great beauty and political strength.
Critics have said that PASSING THROUGH is the best jazz film ever made, Other critics have compared PASSING THROUGH to the film BLACK ORPHEUS. PASSING THROUGH has been selected to screen in many international film festivals and retrospectives specifically to represent the best of American Independent Cinema, the best of African-American Cinema, the best American Cinema In the Seventies, and the best Music on Film.
MAJOR PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL SCREENINGS
(partial list)
* Cannes International Film Festival
(special event), Cannes France
* Locarno International Film festival. Switzerland,
(won special jury prize)
* Pesaro International Film Festival, Pesaro Italy
* Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani, Torino Italy
* Galeries Contemporaines des Musees de Marseille /
Mareille, France
* The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
* French Cinematheque, Paris France
* Edinburgh International Film Festival, Scotland
* Moscow International Film Festival , USSR
* Festival of Pan African Cinema (FESPACO),
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
* Deauville Film Festival, France