Loading Page
Billie Holiday: A Sensation(2015)
Status: Released
Date: 2015-04-07
80%
2 Votes
Time: 0h 52m
Overview:
A documentary about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). There exist many myths and legends about the Jazz Singer Billie Holiday — one of the greatest voices of the last century. Most of them tell the story of the tragic victim of drugs, alcohol, men, color, or the circumstances of her upbringing. To some extent she contributed herself to these legends, especially in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues". In recent years, more and more records and reports have shown a different picture of her. These statements of confidants, colleagues and friends clean up with many of the legends and show a strong personality who has been anything but a pitiable victim. Billie Holiday was a strong-willed and determined person and a very complex personality who did not correspond to the classic victim type.
Languages: English.
Countries:
Germany
ProductionCompanies:
TAG/TRAUM Filmproduktion
SWR/Arte
Movie: Billie Holiday: A Sensation
Top 5 Billed Cast
Billie Holiday
herself
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Herself
HomePage
Overview
A documentary about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). There exist many myths and legends about the Jazz Singer Billie Holiday — one of the greatest voices of the last century. Most of them tell the story of the tragic victim of drugs, alcohol, men, color, or the circumstances of her upbringing. To some extent she contributed herself to these legends, especially in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues". In recent years, more and more records and reports have shown a different picture of her. These statements of confidants, colleagues and friends clean up with many of the legends and show a strong personality who has been anything but a pitiable victim. Billie Holiday was a strong-willed and determined person and a very complex personality who did not correspond to the classic victim type.
Release Date
2015-04-07
Average
8
Rating:
4.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
EnglishKeywords
Recommendations Movies
63%
Angel Face(fr)
2018-05-23
8-year-old Elli and her mother, Marlène, live in a small town by the French Riviera where they act out to relieve boredom and hide from social services. When Marlène caves in to yet another night of excess, she chooses to leave Elli behind for a man she just met. The young child must confront her mother's demons in order to get her back.
60%
Object: Alimony(en)
1928-12-22
Ruth Butler, a clerk in an emporium, marries Jimmy Rutledge and thereby greatly displeases his mother, the owner of the emporium, because of Ruth's lowly origins. Renaud Graham, one of Mrs. Rutledge's friends, becomes interested in Ruth, forces his way into her apartment, and attempts to make violent love to her. Jimmy walks in on their embrace and, suspecting the worst, leaves Ruth. In the family way, Ruth finds refuge in a boardinghouse where she meets Al Bryant, an aspiring writer. Ruth tells Al her life story, and he makes it into a bestselling novel and then into a play. Jimmy sees the play and comes to his senses, winning Ruth's forgiveness.
77%
Mystery 101: Playing Dead(en)
2019-06-23
The local theater is producing a mystery that crime fiction expert Amy unearthed. When one of the actress' life is threatened, Amy & Travis must uncover which character is playing for keeps.
46%
HG's Shadow(en)
2017-05-30
A gay teenager is haunted by a shadowy presence while his parents are getting a divorce, he can't seem to convey his emotions to his best friend or make his family listen. His world is turned upside down when the shadow reveals to him a darker secret his family keeps to him.
69%
Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife(en)
2018-05-13
Pregnant again, Ali Wong returns to Netflix in her second original stand-up comedy special and gets real on why having kids is not all it's cracked up to be.
64%
Six Pack(es)
2011-01-01
High school is almost over and four friends are going their separate ways as they go to college. But they have one more chance to spend some time together: Inspection 12, their favorite band, is playing one last concert in Jacksonville, FL.
65%
HG Wells: War with the World(en)
2006-09-30
BBC docudrama telling the story of the father of science fiction, HG Wells, and his ambition to avert mankind's headlong course towards self-destruction.
53%
The Wild Soccer Bunch 3(de)
2006-03-01
After Leon left his team in the historic 25-1 defeat against the national team, Die wilden Kerle broke up. Only the little Nerv still believes in his old heroes and tries to bring the grown-up guys back together with the help of his dreaded side puller. Leon's former best friend Fabi has meanwhile founded his own team, the girls' team, "The Beastly Beasts", and challenges "The Wild Soccer Bunch" to a duel in the Nattern Cave.
64%
Heartstrings(fr)
2016-10-13
Marie is a violent cello and very talented teenager in school. Victor is a friendly boy, dynamic, but who knows some academic difficulties. Ignoring that Mary is losing sight, Victor falls in love with her. And little by little, to his great surprise, Marie starts to help her ... When Marie reveals her secret, a pact is concluded between the two teenagers: Victor helps her to hide her condition so that she can pass The entrance examination to the conservatory. An unfailing friendship will emerge from this unlikely duo, ready to do anything to face the rest of the world.
60%
Hannibal Buress: Miami Nights(en)
2020-07-03
Mildly successful comedian, Hannibal Buress, performs his second stand-up special in Chicago based on his wild night with the police.
64%
Just to Be Sure(fr)
2017-09-06
Erwan, a strapping Breton who clears mines for a living, is shaken when he discovers that his father is not his father. Despite his affection for the man who raised him, he quietly sets out to find his biological father, and succeeds in locating Joseph, an endearing old codger he takes a liking to. Just when things look settled, another unexpected “bomb” hits Erwan in the form of Anna, an elusive nymph.
61%
Memoir of War(fr)
2017-08-17
In the last days of the Nazi-occupied France, writer Marguerite Duras awaits the return of her husband, Robert Antelme, arrested for being a Resistance fighter and then deported, while she maintains a tense relationship with her ambiguous lover and a dangerous game with a French collaborationist. Even when the Liberation arrives, she must still endure the unbearable pain of waiting.
61%
Divorce French Style(fr)
2016-12-07
Two years have passed. After missing their separation, the Leroy seem perfectly successful in their divorce. But the appearance of two new lovers in the life of Vincent and Florence will set fire to the powders. The match between the former spouses resumes.
55%
Within(en)
2016-10-18
A widower, his daughter, and his new wife move into a peaceful neighborhood. At first it appears to be a perfect neighborhood but the family quickly realize that something is not right about their new home.
Similar Movies
69%
Beyond Silence(de)
1996-12-18
Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.
59%
Bollywood/Hollywood(en)
2002-10-25
Rahul Seth is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother and grandmother. They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue, a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....
77%
The Blues Brothers(en)
1980-06-16
Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.
0%
The 99 Names of God(en)
2018-04-21
Arab-American filmmaker Yumna Al-Arashi embraces the rhythmic rituals that have run alongside Islamic tradition throughout the centuries in this surreal and poetic short film. Piecing together old and new, Al-Rashi's dream-like imagery breathes fresh air to a subject hardly seen in positive light.
65%
Homegoings(en)
2013-06-25
Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African-American funerals are brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City's historic Harlem neighborhood, Homegoings takes an up-close look at the rarely seen world of undertaking in the black community, where funeral rites draw on a rich palette of tradition, history and celebration. Combining cinéma vérité with intimate interviews and archival photographs, the film paints a portrait of the dearly departed, their grieving families and a man who sends loved ones "home."
68%
Dig!(en)
2004-05-14
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.
71%
In the Realms of the Unreal(en)
2004-01-15
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
70%
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1(en)
2013-11-11
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one veteran dies by suicide in America every 80 minutes. While only 1% of Americans has served in the military, former service members account for 20% of all suicides in the U.S. Based in Canandaigua, NY and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Veterans Crisis Line receives more than 22,000 calls each month from veterans of all conflicts who are struggling or contemplating suicide. This timely documentary spotlights the traumas endured by America’s veterans, as seen through the work of the hotline’s trained responders. CRISIS HOTLINE captures extremely private moments, where the professionals, many of whom are themselves veterans or veterans’ spouses, can often interrupt the thoughts and plans of suicidal callers to steer them out of crisis.
62%
A Portrait of Ga(en)
1952-01-01
Another early experiment in portraiture from Tait. In filming her mother she asks the wider question of how much the camera can reveal of the person.
70%
Jesus Camp(en)
2006-09-15
Jesus Camp is a Christian summer camp where children hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ". The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.
57%
A Snow Globe Christmas(en)
2013-12-14
In a temper, Meg, a cynical, overworked TV executive, rants about how the movies she produces lie, making you think dreams can come true, and tries to smash her favorite snow globe. Instead, it hits her on the head and knocks her out. When she comes to, she finds herself magically transported to a perfect snow-covered town like the one in her globe, married to a handsome woodworker and mother to two young children.
60%
Christmas on the Bayou(en)
2013-12-14
When successful New York marketing executive Katherine discovers her workaholic ways are taking a toll on her eight-year-old son, Zac, she decides to spend Christmas with him and her mother, Lilly in her home town on the bayou. When Caleb tries to rekindle a childhood romance and convince her to move back home, Katherine is torn between the bright lights of the big city and the quiet, gentler rhythms of her Southern roots. Only a Christmas miracle orchestrated by Papa Noel can steer her heart to her true home.
0%
The Happy Accident(es)
2020-02-13
Embarks on a journey that traces the life and work of Antonio Martorell, a prolific plastic and multi-disciplinary artist in Puerto Rico. This film is a dance between the director (Paloma Suau) and the portraitist while portraying each other. More than a documentary, this film is an experiment of a director trying to reconnect with her creative voice.
0%
Extreme Consequences: The Reality of Prison Life(en)
2007-01-01
A compelling look at the choices that lead to incarceration and the reality of being locked up in Pelican Bay State Prison.
10%
Treyf(yi)
1998-06-07
TREYF —“unkosher” in Yiddish— is an unorthodox documentary by and about two Jewish lesbians who met and fell in love at a Passover “seder”. With personal narration, real and imagined educational films, and haunting imagery, filmmakers Alisa Lebow and Cynthia Madansky examine the Jewish identity of their upbringings and its impact on their lives.