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| My Father And The Man In Black |
Check out our complete NXNE Coverage here
Jun 2 2012 – For the 18th year in a row North By Northeast (NXNE) is happening in Toronto from June 11th to the 17th 2012. NXNE is a music festival, conference, and even a film festival all rolled into one. Today we review a documentary that will have its world premiere at NXNE entitled My Father And The Man In Black.
Salient documentaries about musical icons are usually steeped in decades of archival footage, liberally weaving life lessons and miss-steps into a coherent narrative. The myriad of celluloid portrayals on Johnny Cash is a testament to this journey. Jonathan Holiff‘s new documentary, My Father And The Man In Black mines new territory by giving insight into his father, the manager and the man behind Johnny Cash, Saul Holiff.
Estranged for some 20 years, Jonathan found a treasure trove of business letters, audiotapes, press materials and scrap books in Saul’s storage locker long after his father’s suicide. Now, flushed with source materials, Holiff was able to navigate the missing decades of the father he never really knew and the legend he understood even less. My Father And The Man In Black gives viewers further insight into the talented yet combative nature of Johnny Cash as he wrestles with an infinite array of demons while the hard driving Saul weathers his storms with equal parts therapy and savvy management during those intervening years. The strength of Holiff’s story telling combined with the technical wizardry of Six01 Studios gives this documentary a graphic sense of hyper-realism that transcend the genre.
It would be so easy to dismiss this documentary as just another novel creation on a misunderstood musical icon. But, Jonathan Holiff’s personal journey reclaims the lost history on a remarkable father and manager who helped paved the road that allowed the genius of Johnny Cash to shine.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Review by: John Dash
Can't wait to see it…just bought 3 tickets for the Hyland showing in London on the 23rd!