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UPCOMING Screenings

TBA

Past Screenings

• The Storehouse Film Festival - Three Oaks, MI, April 28, 2023

• Melkweg Cinema Amsterdam - March 23, 2022

• Chicago Film Fest Summer Series - 2018

• Austin Jukebox Cinema - 2018

• Doc ‘n Roll Festival (London, UK)- 2017

• Golden Age Cinema (Sydney, AU) - 2017

• Acworth Winter Film Series - 2017

• Clarksdale Film Festival - 2017

• Cork Film Festival - 2016

• Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival - 2016

• Northampton Film Festival - 2016

• Don’t Knock The Rock @ The Cinefamily Los Angeles - 2016

• Sidewalk Film Festival - 2016

• Jacob Burns Film Center - 2016

• Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival - 2016

• Blackstar Film Festival - 2016

• Montclair Film Festival - 2016

• Newport Beach Film Festival - 2016

• Florida Film Festival - 2016

• Nashville Film Festival - 2016

• Chattanooga Film Festival - 2016

• Big Sky Documentary Film Festival - 2016

• Noise Pop / SF Indiefest - 2016

• Portland Art Museum’s Reel Music Festival - 2016

• DOC NYC - 2015

• Indie Memphis - 2015

• Chicago International Film Festival - 2015 (World Premiere)

LISTEN

The official soundtrack streaming playlist (on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube) features the songs that are in the documentary Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows.

About

 
 

Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows is a portrait of an overlooked yet hugely influential African-American musician whose 60 year career spanned every genre of Black music from the Blues, to Soul, to Funk, to Hip Hop. In spite of enjoying success in Chicago in the 1960s with songs like “Come On Sock It To Me” and “Is It Because I’m Black,” and recording with the same band and producer as Al Green at Hi Records in Memphis in the ‘70s, Syl’s music remained largely unknown and his career was seemingly over by the ‘80s. With the advent of Hip Hop, his 1967 song “Different Strokes” became extremely popular among DJs and producers and was sampled by artists including Run-DMC, Public Enemy, NWA, the Beastie Boys, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Jay Z and Kanye West. The release of a comprehensive boxed set on the Numero Group record label in 2010 further revived his career and brought Syl Johnson his first Grammy nomination. With fiery concert footage from then and now, a funky, energetic soundtrack, and an original score by Yo La Tengo, Any Way The Wind Blows shows how talent and perseverance can prevail in the end. Featuring interviews with RZA (the Wu-Tang Clan), Prince Paul (De La Soul), Peanut Butter Wolf (Stones Throw Records), Jazzy Jay (Afrika Bambaataa’s Soulsonic Force), Jonathan Lethem (writer), Louis “Breakbeat Lou” Flores (Ultimate Breaks & Beats), Otis Clay (Hi Records artist) and Syleena Johnson (singer & star of TV One’s R&B Divas: Atlanta).

Technical Specs:

2015 / USA / English / 84 Minutes / HD

 

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Rob Hatch-Miller (Director & Producer) - Rob is a graduate of the film & television program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He’s the director of the documentary feature Other Music and the shorts Republican Dad and A Man Named Magick. He was the Associate Producer of Laura Poitras’ documentary The Oath and has also worked on films including Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me and Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In. In addition Rob has produced, edited, and/or directed music videos for numerous artists including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Aimee Mann, The New Pornographers, Real Estate, The Postal Service and Kurt Vile

Puloma Basu (Producer) - Puloma’s first job in the film industry was on Mira Nair’s film The Namesake.  Since then she’s worked on numerous TV shows including Bored To Death and Flight Of The Conchords and feature films such as Brooklyn’s FinestArbitrage, and Kill Your Darlings.  She directed and produced the documentary Other Music with Rob and also works with Rob as a producer and director on music videos and other projects.

Michael Slaboch (Producer) - Michael is a producer, sound engineer and educator living in Michigan. For years, he has produced music, film, and comedy events of all shapes and sizes through his work at venues and festivals around the country.  He has worked with musicians such as Wilco, M.I.A., Andrew Bird, and Yo La Tengo, and comedians including Fred Armisen, Amy Schumer, David Cross, Aziz Ansari, Marc Maron, and many more. He’s also been a historical judge for the national chapter of the Grammys and was an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago in their recording arts and documentary film programs. 

Joaquin Perez (Editor & Producer) - Joaquin is a documentary film and television editor.  He worked as an editor on the Grammy nominated feature documentary ‘The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story’ and an assistant editor on ‘The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story’.  For television, Joaquin has edited shows on PBS, Showtime, MTV, Bravo, and A&E.  He has edited music videos for Ted Leo, The New Pornographers and Titus Andronicus.  In 2007, he attended the Sundance Documentary Story and Edit Lab. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

 
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AWARDS

Sidewalk Film Festival 2016 - Jury Award, Best Documentary Feature

Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival 2016 - Saatchi & Saatchi Nothing Is Impossible Achievement In Film Award

Nashville Film Festival 2016 - Grand Jury Prize, Best Music Film

San Francisco Independent Film Festival 2016 - Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature

Indie Memphis 2015 - Audience Award, Best Documentary Feature

 

IMAGES

‘Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows’ Official Poster

Syl Johnson photo courtesy of Fat Possum Records from the Hi Records archive

Syl Johnson photo by Rob Hatch-Miller

Horizontal Logo by Rob Carmichael of Seen Studio

Block Logo by Rob Carmichael of Seen Studio

Director Rob Hatch-Miller photo by Mindy Tucker