“Sing Your Song,” a documentary film profiling singer/activist Harry Belafonte, has been picked up by HBO. The film played at this year’s Sundance and Berlin fests.
Directed by Susanne Rostock (“The Long Way Home”), “Sing Your Song” details the life of Belafonte as he battled segregation to crossover into mainstream music and acting. The film depicts Belafonte as a tireless activist in the civil rights movement, who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and later participated in the struggle against South African apartheid.
HBO seems a good match for the film. In a press release, producer Michael Cohl says, “HBO is the best home I know of for documentaries in this country. They have a long track record of presenting great non-fiction programming.”
As one of the first performers to popularize Calypso music, Belafonte the singer is best known for his evergreen “The Banana Boat Song” (you know it, even if you don’t know you know it).
As an actor, Belafonte starred alongside Dorothy Dandridge in 1954’s “Carmen Jones,” and more recently, in politically charged films such as “White Man’s Burden” and Robert Altman’s “Kansas City.”
“Sing Your Song” will debut on HBO this fall.
Check out Melinda Newman’s review of “Sing Your Song” from Sundance.