MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE (Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack). 114 minutes. Opens Friday (August 12). See listing. Rating: NNN
An episode of American Masters expanded to feature length, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise offers a full accounting of the late poet and author’s life and legacy, tracing the intersection of her activism and her literary influence.
Interweaving an extensive interview recorded a few months before Angelou’s 2014 death with archival footage and testimonials from friends, family and collaborators – among them Diahann Carroll, Alfre Woodard, Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Bill Clinton and Common – directors Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack give us a chronological walk through the life of a genuinely transformative artist.
And Still I Rise isn’t out to reinvent the biographical documentary this is an entirely conventional presentation, never deviating from its origins as a PBS documentary. (Thankfully, Hercules and Coburn Whack go light on the historical re-enactments.) But if Angelou’s life has touched yours, you shouldn’t miss it.
