Its a big American story about the destructive aspects of how business works, she says.
The label emerged from a historical landscape that intersects with capitalism and corporate America and racism.
Theres this mythology of Stax that it was an interracial utopia for musicians in a segregated South.
Wignot at the inaugural Gotham TV Awards in NYC on June 4John Nacion/Variety/Getty Images
So when we catch glimpses of the possibility of reconciliation, it makes us feel good about ourselves.
Also, as a person living in the 21st century, I just felt very dubious.
Im 46 years old and I havent ever experienced something as harmonious as what Stax said it was offering.
Whereas when you look at the post-68 period, the company is by no means less integrated.
So that becomes more complicated for a lot of the people who were in charge of writing the story.
But if you look at Stax holistically, the complexity of the story really is there.
Theres an argument to be made thatHot Buttered Soulis to soul music whatSgt.
Were very much still having those conversations today.
And that of course comes with all the heartbreaking sacrifices that come with making a music doc.
Where people say, Where are the Staple Singers in this movie?Exactly, exactly.
Staxhas no omniscient third-person narrator.
It almost feels like an oral history with conflicting voices.
How important was that approach?That was the right tool for the job.
The story is notmystory to tell.
Its the story of these individuals.
So, some of it was my own desire as a filmmaker to allow people to telltheirstories.
Documentaries reflect perspectives as much as they reflect truth.
There was a particular kind of viciousness to the way this label went down.
McClinton, a Black country singer, was getting to do the music he wanted to do.
The label was so open-minded and broad in the sense of what Black artists could do.
It wasnt, We just do one thing and Black music is a monolith.
It was opening the doors to everybody.
You worked onMany Rivers to Cross, which tells 500 years of African American history.
Were the storytelling challenges similar?What makes [Stax] harder is the real people.
Its not the scholar who wrote a book.
The people I interviewed [forStax] were still unpacking a lot of it.
I prefer to do interviews where we spend six, seven, eight hours together.
Its an opportunity for me to make a run at make sense of, Who is this person?
How are they telling this story?
How dotheywant to come across?
How are they not aware of the ways theyre coming across?
I love being able to do that.
No, theres legions of people who helped you.
But I cant speak enough about the team I had on this project.
