ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE Special Screening

From acclaimed documentarians D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (MONTEREY POP, STARTUP.COM, DON’T LOOK BACK, ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS) comes a rocking documentary about the rhythm and blues performers who were the backbone of Stax Records and the Motown sound. These are the musicians who survived and kept on working: Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson, Isaac Hayes, the Chi-Lites, Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla Thomas, and many others.

Rather than make a “history of” film with lots of archival footage, Pennebaker and Hegedus instead have chosen to weave together the stories of 10 legends of soul who are still actively performing, sounding better than ever. They chose their subjects with the help of Roger Friedman, a well-known New York journalist who is a lifelong fan of the music and a supporter of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

The great days of soul music’s popularity (1960-1975) came to an end with disco followed by rap and hip-hop, but its influence is stronger than ever. Pennebaker and Hegedus set out to discover the fate of the great soul stars whose music is played day and night on radio stations in every city worldwide. Indeed, as Jerry Butler sings in the film: “Only the Strong Survive.”