The Woods Hole Massachusetts Film Festival on the Cape and Islands recently wrapped up its 33rd edition, which ran from Saturday, July 27 through Saturday, August 3. The festival is followed by online screenings from August 4-11.
With nearly 1000 submissions that were narrowed down to a program of 47 feature-length and 73 short dramas, comedies, documentaries, and animation from 19 countries—with 6 world, 2 US, and 59 New England premiered by first-time and veteran filmmakers.
Among the opening night films included the Multi-award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter’s (John Lewis: Good Trouble) noteworthy documentary Luther: Never Too Much produced by Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth. The film recaps Luther Vandross’s Grammy® award-winning musical career while exploring his personal life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect that his music deserved.
Luther Vandross could change your life with his extraordinary vocal range and tonality delivering sensitive performance of lyrics. He had the uncanny ability to stretch emotions through orchestration and his tenors of vibrations. His musicality was phenomenal; he would take you to the stars and beyond with his vocals. Luther Vandross was an enigma whose music profoundly impacted the music across all genres.
Ahead of the festival, ThisIsRnB’s host Kadeja sat down with the incredible Dawn Porter for an insightful conversation on being given access to a treasure trove of Luther Vandross’ lyrics, liner notes, archival clips, and recordings by Sony. During our conversation, she discussed the songs that impacted and contributed to understanding Luther’s life, and his evolution as an artist, and helped frame the outcome of the documentary.
Luther Vandross always led with Love in his lyrics and always hit the sweet spot with his music. His music and spirit will be forevermore!
Watch our exclusive interview for more with the incredible Dawn Porter below. You’ll be amazed at Porter’s extraordinary talent for storytelling.