Photo | Josh Middleton

The final presentation of the eighth annual First Person Festival was a screening of Still Bill by filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack. The film, which was shown to a packed house on Sunday night at the Painted Bride, is about soul great Bill Withers, who unexpectedly fled the music scene after penning a slew of R&B classics, including “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.” I went expecting to see a movie that focused on the reasons why he left the business, but instead saw a bio-doc of a genuinely good-natured, deeply philosophical man who somehow managed to escape the sparkly, mainstream music world untainted. Molly Eichel gave a thorough review last week on Critical Mass, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. It made me giggle, it made me sob and it inspired me to want to be better at what I do. What more could you ask for from a film? I loved it.

When it was over, Baker and Vlack came onstage for an impromptu Q&A session. They mostly talked about the process of making the film, which began with an e-mail to Withers nearly 10 years ago. When they finally got the go-ahead, Withers led them on a spontaneous filming spree across the country, including locations like his family cemetery in Slab Fork, W. Va., and a large tribute concert in New York. Though there was a slew of footage to weed through, Baker and Vlack pieced together a film that moved cohesively throughout. Their purpose, they said, was to live inside of Bill Withers so they could create a film that felt natural and true. One of the most interesting tidbits of information they shared was of a hard drive in Withers’ studio labeled “Unreleased Bill Withers Tracks.” Um, hello, could someone get around to releasing those please?

Because the film started a little late, there unfortunately wasn’t enough time for the filmmakers to present much of a discussion. They were promptly ushered off to make room for the boisterous Johnny Ingram and his band, who were slated to perform music by Bill Withers. They began with a cool rendition of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which eventually flowed into “Lean on Me.” At this point the dancefloor was flooded with people from the audience. Everyone was groovin’ and shakin’ until the next song, “Use Me,” started for a silent Ingram, who didn’t know the words. This awkward flub was quickly remedied, though, when a spunky lady from the audience grabbed the mic to finish it for him. She was definitely feelin’ it, as was everyone else, until Ingram made the unfortunate decision to ditch the Withers numbers and start in on Barry White’s cheese-tastic “Can’t Get Enough.” I thought Ingram and his band were great, but I wish they had stuck to Bill Withers’ songs — there are plenty to choose from. I can’t do much complaining, though; everyone seemed to be having a ball. The dancefloor was packed not only with the audience, but employees of First Person Arts, including Executive Director Vicki Solot, who busted some moves that would freeze you in your tracks.

Over the past weekend I’ve learned that this is the true charm of First Person Arts. This is a company that presents raw, honest varieties of art in a way that is unpretentious and warm.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Arts, Events, First Person Fest, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.