‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’ - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 2109709

‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’

icon 1 Photo
An image from Liz Garbus' documentary

An image from Liz Garbus' documentary "What Happened

author on Jul 30, 2020

This week, the Hamptons Doc Fest added another “Fest Favorite” film — “What Happened, Miss Simone?” — to its website, hamptonsdocfest.com.

“What Happened, Miss Simone?” was not only the Spotlight Film at the documentary film festival in December 2015, but its award-winning director Liz Garbus was the winner of the festival’s Filmmakers’ Choice Award.

The film, which opened the Sundance Film Festival earlier that year, follows the life of the African-American piano prodigy and singer Eunice Waymon from North Carolina, who became the celebrated husky torch singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone. Simone’s complex and troubled bipolar life, which ended in France in 2003 at the age of 70, has become the focus over the years, of two biographies, a poetry collection, several plays, three films, and a tribute album.

Other films also still available through the Hamptons Doc Fest website, most with Q&As from the directors’ appearances at the Hamptons Doc Fest film festival in previous years, are “Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life,” “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” “In Search of Israeli Cuisine,” “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” “The Biggest Little Farm,” “Three Identical Strangers,” “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” “Spielberg,” “Life, Animated,” “Very Semi-Serious,” “Free Solo,” “To a More Perfect Union: U.S. v. Windsor,” “Marvin Booker Was Murdered,” the new first-run documentary “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint,” “Dads” for Father’s Day, “Pick of the Litter,” “Jane Fonda in Five Acts,” the new first-run documentaries “John Lewis: Good Trouble” and “Spaceship Earth,” and last week’s offering “A Moment in Time: Hamptons Artists.”

You May Also Like:

Interview: Paula Poundstone Returns to Bay Street Theater on July 26

Comedian, podcast host and “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” panelist Paula Poundstone will return to ... 20 Jul 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Chelsea Handler Doubles Down: Second Westhampton Beach Show Announced

Comedian Chelsea Handler has added a second date to her stand-up tour at the Westhampton ... by Staff Writer

'Arias in Bloom': Verdi’s Greatest Hits Light Up the Leiber Collection

An intimate outdoor concert celebrating the iconic works of Giuseppe Verdi will take place at ... by Staff Writer

HamptonsFilm Appoints Richard N. Gladstein Executive Director; David Nugent Promoted to Chief Creative Officer

HamptonsFilm has appointed two-time Academy Award-nominated producer Richard N. Gladstein as its new executive director. David Nugent, who has led programming at the organization since 2007, has been promoted to chief creative officer. Gladstein will report to HamptonsFilm co-chairs Alec Baldwin and Randy Mastro, while Nugent will report to Gladstein. Gladstein, a veteran producer and educator, will oversee all strategic planning and year-round programming for HamptonsFilm and its annual Hamptons International Film Festival. His role will focus on enhancing community engagement, expanding industry partnerships and increasing the festival’s national and international visibility. “We are delighted to welcome Richard as our ... 17 Jul 2025 by Staff Writer

Round and About for July 17, 2025

Music & Nightlife Mysteries, Deceptions and Illusions Allan Zola Kronzek, a sleight-of-hand artist, will perform ... by Staff Writer

Pop Art Star Nelson De La Nuez Headlines ‘Red Carpet’ Exhibition at East Hampton’s White Room Gallery

The White Room Gallery will present its latest exhibition, “Red Carpet,” from July 16 through ... by Staff Writer

Accordion Meets Improv: Sam Reider and the Human Hands To Perform on Shelter Island

Shelter Island Friends of Music continues its 2025 season with a free concert by composer, ... by Staff Writer

Artist Sean Scully Speaks at the Parrish Art Museum in Conjunction With 'Sean Scully: The Albee Barn, Montauk'

The Parrish Art Museum will present a special artist talk with internationally acclaimed painter Sean ... by Staff Writer

Let's Get Down to Business!

Get the back-history of East Hampton Village’s commercial district presented by East Hampton historian Hugh King and The Anchor Society founder Bess Rattray in a talk at East Hampton Library on Friday, July 18, at 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. What kinds of colorful, quirky, practical, and whimsical shops could be found “upstreet” in the decades before Prada, Vuitton and Valentino arrived? What was the business district’s retail culture like for shoppers 50 or 100 years ago? Travel back in time for a fun and informative virtual “walking tour” — with archival images, personal recollections, and video — ... by Staff Writer

At the Galleries for July 17, 2025

Montauk The Depot Art Gallery, at the Montauk railroad station at the corner of Flamingo ... by Staff Writer