A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
A man holds a camera lens over one eye
Official poster
Directed byJohn Maggio
Produced by
  • John Maggio
  • Monica Berra
  • Richard Lowe
  • Teddy Kunhardt
  • George Kunhardt
  • Matthew Henderson
Cinematography
  • Joe Arcidiacono
  • Clair Popkin
Edited byRichard Lowe
Music byGary Lionelli
Production
companies
Distributed byHBO
Release date
  • June 18, 2021 (2021-06-18) (Tribeca)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks is a 2021 documentary film that follows the life of the photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks. Its title derives from Parks’ 1967 autobiography.[2][3] The film features Devin Allen, Jelani Cobb, Anderson Cooper, Ava DuVernay, Nelson George, Jamel Shabazz, Spike Lee, and LaToya Ruby Frazier.[4]

It was directed and produced by John Maggio for HBO Documentary Films; Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz served as executive producers.[1] The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 18, 2021.[5]

At the 43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards the project received three nominations, including Best Documentary and Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 7 critics, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[6]

Matt Fagerholm of RogerEbert.com gave the documentary four stars and called it "deeply moving".[7] Chris Barsanti of Slant Magazine gave it 3 stars out of 4 and called the film "[a] workmanlike in presentation but scintillating in its content".[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Rapold, Nicolas (2021-11-16). "'A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks' Review: Defining Portraits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  3. ^ Parks, Gordon (2016). A choice of weapons. Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-87351-769-0. OCLC 1062195927.
  4. ^ "'He's inspired so many of us': how Gordon Parks changed photography". the Guardian. 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  5. ^ "Announcing The Feature Film Lineup For Tribeca 2021". Tribeca Film Festival. April 20, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  6. ^ "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Fagerholm, Matt (November 15, 2021). "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Barsanti, Chris (July 2, 2021). "Review: John Maggio's A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks". Slant Magazine.