The screening of 'Amazing Grace' at Telluride Film Festival is canceled and replaced by another movie as Franklin wins injunction to block it.
- Sep 5, 2015
AceShowbiz - The screening of Aretha Franklin concert movie "Amazing Grace (2015)" at Telluride Film Festival is officially canceled. U.S. District Judge John Kane has granted Franklin's injunction against the screening after the singer filed a lawsuit on Friday, September 4, to prevent its release.
"Amazing Grace" is a documentary by director Sydney Pollack which is based on Franklin's concert footage shot in 1972. Producer Alan Elliot is alleged to include some of the footage without Franklin's permission. Franklin stated in her complaint that the materials should not be used commercially without her agreement.
"Allowing the film to be shown violates Ms. Franklin's contractual rights, her intellectual property rights, her rights to use and control her name and likeness, and represents an invasion of her privacy," her complaint read. "It is also in direct and specific violation of the quitclaim agreement by which the footage was obtained from the Warner Brothers organization by Mr. Alan Elliott, the purported producer of 'Amazing Grace.' "
This is not the first time that Franklin files a lawsuit over the movie. In 2011, the diva sued Elliott over the footage but the "lawsuit was resolved after Elliott agreed not to release the film."
A spokeswoman for the festival has confirmed that they will not screen the movie and put another movie to replace it. "A Colorado judge has granted the injunction to block the screening of 'Amazing Grace' at Telluride Film Festival. We will be showing 'Sherpa' in its place tonight at the Chuck Jones Theatre at 7:30," she said.
