Ailey

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Ailey

PG-13

Released Jul 23, 2021

1h 22m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

80 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Alvin Ailey was a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. AILEY traces the full contours of this brilliant and enigmatic man whose search for the truth in movement resulted in enduring choreography that centers on the Black American experience with grace, strength, and unparalleled beauty. Told through Ailey's own words and featuring evocative archival footage and interviews with those who intimately knew him, director Jamila Wignot weaves together a resonant biography of an elusive visionary.

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Critics Consensus

Ailey pays invigorating tribute to its subject's brilliant legacy -- and offers a tantalizing introduction to the rest of a fascinating story.

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Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

Ailey's story is interspersed with rehearsal scenes of a new work celebrating the 50th anniversary of the company he founded.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 10, 2022

Full Review

Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

This captivating documentary portrait of the choreographer Alvin Ailey, who died in 1989, treads a fine line between loving memorial and unfettered hagiography.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 7, 2022

Full Review

Marina Ashioti

Little White Lies

Poeticism ebbs and flows throughout Wignot's impressonistic mediation, fluctuating in parts.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 7, 2022

Full Review

Carmen Paddock

TAKE ONE Magazine

AILEY is a loving look at a dance pioneer, meticulously thorough in its content yet never losing the joy, rage, and striving for excellence that characterised Ailey and generations of his disciples... Thoroughly engrossing and historically rich...

Nov 30, 2023

Full Review

Sarah Vincent

Cambridge Day

The film works best when his collaborators, particularly artistic director Judith Jamison and guest choreographer Bill T. Jones, provide insight into Ailey’s private nature and his lonely artistic sojourn

Rated: 2/4

Aug 16, 2023

Full Review

Cody Dericks

Next Best Picture

A moving and vibrant look into the life of an artist that is structured in such a way that any viewer can take something meaningful from it.

Rated: 8/10

Jul 8, 2022

Full Review

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Margaret H

Good blend of performances recorded when the ballets were developed, and interviews with people who were part of his compny, and interviews that he did. It reflects Aileys lifetime (segregation, poverty, the AIDS epidemic).

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/19/21

Full Review

HAYNES

this is a Moving and Timeless doc

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/18/21

Full Review

Jill V C

Delightful and heartbreaking… he was wonderful and is truly missed.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/13/21

Full Review

Michal

Real clips from newsreels and those amazing performances. Unvarnished information about his challenges and illness.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/12/21

Full Review

Linda

There could have been more about how he learned to dance and where.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/08/21

Full Review

Steven

Great film. I do wish they could have gone into greater detail about how Ailey came to create some of greatest works.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/08/21

Full Review

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Jamila Wignot

Director

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Actor

Lauren DeFilippo

Producer

Jamila Wignot

Producer

Emily Blavatnik

Executive Producer

Geralyn White Dreyfous

Executive Producer

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Ailey: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Alvin Ailey was a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. AILEY traces the full contours of this brilliant and enigmatic man whose search for the truth in movement resulted in enduring choreography that centers on the Black American experience with grace, strength, and unparalleled beauty. Told through Ailey's own words and featuring evocative archival footage and interviews with those who intimately knew him, director Jamila Wignot weaves together a resonant biography of an elusive visionary.

Director: Jamila Wignot
Producer: Lauren DeFilippo, Jamila Wignot
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: American Masters Pictures, Black Public Media, Ford Foundation - Just Films, Impact Partners, XTR, Insignia Films, Artemis Rising Foundation, ITVS
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 23, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 12, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $188.6K
Runtime: 1h 22m

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