When we were kings
DVD - 2019
"In 1974, Leon Gast traveled to Africa to film Zaire 74, a music festival planned to accompany an unprecedented sports spectacle: the Rumble in the Jungle, in which late-career underdog Muhammad Ali would contend with the younger powerhouse George Foreman for the boxing heavyweight championship title--'a fight between two blacks in a black nation, organized by blacks,' as a Kinshasa billboard put it. When the main event was delayed, extending Ali's stay in Africa, Gast wound up amassing a treasure trove of footage, observing the wildly charismatic athlete training for one of the toughest bouts of his career while basking in his role as black America's proud ambassador to postcolonial Africa. Two decades in the makin...g, When We Were Kings features interviews with Norman Mailer and George Plimpton that illustrate the sensational impact of the fight, rounding out an Academy Award-winning portrait of Ali that captures his charm, grace and defiance"--Container.
- Subjects
- Genres
- Documentary films
Biographical films
Historical films
Nonfiction films
Sports films
Video recordings for the hearing impaired - Published
-
[Irvington, NY] :
The Criterion Collection
[2019]
- Language
- English
- Corporate Author
- Corporate Author
- Other Authors
- , ,
- Edition
- DVD special edition ; DVD edition ; widescreen
- Item Description
- Originally released as a documentary film in 1996.
Widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio).
Accompanying sheet includes an essay by critic Kelefa Sanneh. - Physical Description
- 1 videodisc (87 min.) : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in
- Format
- DVD, NTSC, region 1; widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio); Dolby 5.0 surround.
- Audience
- Rating: PG; for images of violence, brief nudity and some language.
- Awards
- Academy Award, Best Documentary Feature.
- Production Credits
- Cinematography, Maryse Alberti, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Keating, Albert Maysles, Roderick Young ; editors, Leon Gast, Taylor Hackford, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Keith Robinson.
- ISBN
- 9781681436517
- Features: New, restored 4K digital transfer
- "Soul Power," a 2008 documentary about the Zaïre 74 music festival directed by Jefrey Kusama-Hinte
- New interview with producer David Sonenberg
- Interview from 1997 with director Leon Gast
- Trailer
- An essay by critic Kelefa Sanneh.