Sony Pictures Classics announced today that its feature documentary Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, co-directed by five-time Oscar nominee Frank Marshall (The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart) and Ryan Suffern (Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&M Records), will hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles on May 13, before expanding to additional markets in the following weeks. It will open against IFC Films’ horror-thriller The Innocents, Roadside Attractions’ comedy Family Camp and Universal’s horror-thriller Firestarter starring Zac Efron and more.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, aka “Jazz Fest,” is the signature annual music and cultural event of the city and has been called America’s greatest festival. It has celebrated the music, food, arts and crafts of all of Louisiana since 1970, with hundreds of thousands attending the event each year. The documentary weaves together live performances and interviews from the 50th anniversary of the festival, featuring some of the biggest names in the music industry, along with a wealth of archival documentary footage from the past half century.
Marshall, Suffern and Sean Stuart produced the title, featuring appearances by such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Katy Perry, and Earth, Wind & Fire, with Buffett and Quint Davis exec producing.
Recent releases from Sony Pictures Classics include Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, Julia Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia, Clint Bentley’s Jockey and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6. Other upcoming releases include the romantic drama Mothering Sunday, which bows on March 25, and the comedy The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, which is set for release on April 22.
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