Heaven Adores You
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Nickolas Rossi
- JT Gurzi
- Kevin Moyer
- Marc Smolowitz
- Nickolas Rossi
- JT Gurzi
| Heaven Adores You | |
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| Directed by | Nickolas Rossi |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | Elliott Smith |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by |
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| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Eagle Rock Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Heaven Adores You is a 2014 documentary about the life and music of indie rock singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (1969–2003). It premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival on May 5, 2014.[1]
The film focuses on Smith's life in the three cities he lived in during his music career (Portland, New York and Los Angeles),[2] highlighted by his five solo albums from 1994–2000 and his 1998 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Miss Misery" in Good Will Hunting.[3] It features personal photos, concert footage, and recorded conversations and interviews with Smith, his friends and collaborators.[3] Participants include Smith's sister Ashley Welch, Jon Brion, Larry Crane, Tony Lash, Joanna Bolme, Rob Schnapf, and Kill Rock Stars founder Slim Moon.[3][4][5]
In addition to having at least one song from each of his albums,[6] the track listing contains over a dozen previously unreleased Elliott Smith songs, spanning the length of his career.[2] Heaven Adores You is the first documentary to gain permission to use Smith's music.[4]
Production
Director Nickolas Rossi first became familiar with Smith's music in the mid-'90s while living in Portland. He started contemplating making a documentary about him in 2007 after receiving positive response from a short tribute video he shot at the Figure 8 wall, following Smith’s death in 2003.[7]
In the fall of 2009, fellow filmmaker Jeremiah Gurzi teamed up with Rossi, and in January 2010, they traveled to Portland. In 2011, a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign was launched to raise awareness of the film and to help supplement the initial funds needed to officially start the project.[8] Following the successful launch, they received an email from Kevin Moyer, who attended the same high school as Smith, offering to help. Moyer came on as a producer and music supervisor, and arranged most of the interviews.[9] A majority of the shooting took place in 2012. By the fall of 2013, longtime colleague and multi-award winning veteran producer Marc Smolowitz officially joined the team, helping steward the project through post-production and to a prominently placed world premiere at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival.[10] After a year-long global festival run, the film was acquired by Eagle Rock Entertainment for worldwide distribution in the summer of 2015.[11]
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6.22/10.[12] The San Francisco Bay Guardian described the film as "an artfully crafted study of a unique talent."[13] Way Too Indie called it "a tasteful, haunting portrait,"[7] while Ground Control magazine praised it as "a celebration of the fullness of the life [Smith] lived."[14]
