Tom Needham pays tribute to Peter Fonda and Toni Morrison this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSB’s THE SOUNDS OF FILM. The show will feature previously recorded interviews with Hollywood legend, Peter Fonda, and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the director of the recent Toni Morrison documentary,TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM.
Peter Fonda, who died this past August, is a Hollywood counterculture icon who is most well known for his film EASY RIDER. He is also remembered for his roles in THE TRIP, WILD ANGELS, ULEE’S GOLD and THE PASSION OF AYN RAND.
The show will feature a previous conversation with Tom Needham and Peter Fonda talking about his classic film, EASY RIDER, and many of his other movies. At the time of the interview, the Criterion Collection had just released a special restored high-definition digital transfer of Easy Rider on BLU-RAY. The 1969 radical road trip movie, directed by Dennis Hopper, features New-Wave style editing, an outsider-rock soundtrack and memorable performances by Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper.
TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM is an artful and uplifting documentary on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner. The film examines her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ’70s-era book tours with Mohammad Ali. The movie is an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own work. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed novels, including “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula” and “Song of Solomon.” In addition to Ms. Morrison, the documentary features interviews with Angela Davis, Hilton Als, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, Farah Griffin, and Oprah Winfrey, who turned Morrison’s novel “Beloved” into a feature film. Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a friend of Toni Morrison’s for over 35 years, the film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders has produced and directed 13 films including ‘Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart’ (Grammy Award, 1998), ‘The Black List’ (NAACP Spirit award, 2008), ‘The Latino List,’ ‘The Out List,’ ‘About Face’ (HBO), ‘The Boomer List,’ ‘The Women’s List’ (PBS) and ‘The Trans List’ (HBO.) He has achieved critical acclaim photographing world leaders and major cultural figures, including presidents, writers, artists, actors and musicians. His photographs are in numerous museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, The National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The Brooklyn Museum.
THE SOUNDS OF FILM is the nation’s longest running film and music themed radio show. For the past 30 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming worldwide live on the internet. Past people interviewed for the show include Nile Rodgers, Chris Hedges, Alexander Payne, Ernest Dickerson, Julie Andrews, Billy Joel, Pam Grier and Morris Day.
