I WAS BORN THIS WAY Documentary

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director and producer Daniel Junge, director Sam Pollard, producer Wellington Love, executive producer Cori Robinson and subject Beatitude Bishop Zachary Jones.

The late Motown/disco/gospel singer Carl Bean was a human being impossible to categorize or confine to a single genre. His widespread impact intersects Black and LGBTQ+ history, as well as the story of Los Angeles. From the West Hollywood disco scene in the late ‘70s to the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s, Carl Bean’s influence has traversed eras of music, civil unrest and liberation. In a sit-down interview with Carl discussing his life and the progression of his career, prolific documentary filmmakers Sam Pollard (CITIZEN ASHE, AFI FEST 2021) and Daniel Junge (BEING EVEL) dive into the untold legacy of this uniquely inspirational vocalist and inclusive Archbishop/founder of the Unity Fellowship Church in South LA. Animated sequences enlighten the trials and tribulations of Carl’s rise to fame, in addition to interviews with Questlove and Lady Gaga to name a few, who have been impacted by the spirit of Carl’s voice and the message of his songs. Singer/actor/activist Billy Porter also hosts a side quest in which he meets the son of songwriter Bunny Jones, who wrote Bean’s 1977 breakout hit “I Was Born This Way,” and uncovers a long-lost B-side single. From music to religion to activism, Carl Bean has broadened not just the scope of musical genres, but the course of many lives and more to come. –Julia Kipnis