AMAZING GRACE documents the two-night recording of Aretha Franklin's album Amazing Grace at The New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles in January 1972. The footage from the evening, long rumored to be fantastic, has finally been released and the reviews of the legendary performance have been ecstatic, with raves from New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker.

The project was originally conceived by Franklin’s label Atlantic Records and parent company Warner Communications as a vehicle to replicate the surprise success they had with the 1970 film and soundtrack Woodstock—Warner had paid $100,000 for the rights and the film grossed $17 million and the album sold three-million copies.

Sydney Pollack was tapped to direct. Franklin delivered an astonishing performance, including what many consider to be the definitive live version of Amazing Grace. Over the two nights, Franklin would revisit gospel songs backed by singer James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. The album would go on to become the best-selling live gospel album of all time. But while Warner had scored as hoped with the record, corollary success with the accompanying film would have to wait. It languished 40 years, largely because of a tech issue: Pollack didn’t use clappers, so there were no marks to adequately guide the sound to synch with the film. The challenge proved too great until recently, when digital technology enabled matching the audio and visual elements. Thanks to Alan Elliott and his commitment to seeing the project completed to achieve its original vision, we now have the complete document of these amazing nights.