We Want The Funk!
By Kit Macdonald
This documentary, part of the In-Edit music docs festival, bills itself as "a syncopated journey to the heart of funk, beginning with its African roots, early soul, and jazz, before erupting into pure collective energy", which sounds as good a use of a Saturday or Sunday night as possible to us. Co-directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, it charts the rise of funk, from the unstoppable, magnetic James Brown, the psychedelic genius of Parliament-Funkadelic and Sly Stone, the audacious Labelle and the deeply political fire of Fela Kuti. It's hugely ambitious for an 85-minute film, but Nelson and London carry it off brilliantly.
Perhaps a little confusingly, the first of the two screenings (November 1 at 9.30pm) doubles as the festival's closing ceremony, It includes a DJ set from DJ2D2 and the announcement of the In-Edit Festival awards, and the ticket price includes a Campari spritz.