in 1972 aretha franklin recorded her bestselling album amazing grace during two days of gospel performances at the new temple missionary baptist church in watts, los angeles. Sydney pollack and his crew captured the incredible footage, but the project was shelved. Until now. The album would go on to become one of the biggest albums of the queen of soul's career and one of her most beloved works. As the album gained fans around the world, few realised that the inspirational sessions had not only been recorded, they had been filmed by a camera crew led by oscar winning filmmaker sydney pollack. With her preacher father, cl franklin, gospel diva clara ward and rolling stones mick jagger and charlie watts in attendance, this is, in every sense, a momentous event. Not only is this an amazing record of a genius signer's performance, but it's also an extraordinary look at a key moment in american musical and social history, and an invaluable record of one of america’s greatest artists doing what she did best.   'one of the great music films' – new york times 'pure, soaring joy' – james king, bbc radio 2   release date  9th sept 2019