The dazzling career of legendary singer-songwriter Luther Vandross gets revelatory reappraisal in Dawn Porter’s moving biographical documentary. In addition to making his own beloved hits (Never Too Much; Dance with My Father; Here and Now) the trailblazing soul artist was a titanic musical force in the 1980s and 90s, arranging and producing songs for a staggering range of artists: from David Bowie to Dionne Warwick and Mariah Carey, to name just a few.
Even before his life was cut tragically short at 54, Vandross suffered from media scrutiny about his weight and sexuality, and from pigeonholing within the music industry. Drawn from roughly four decades of interview and performance footage, as well as retrospective assessments by confidantes and artistic contemporaries, Luther is an eye-opening examination of a legacy that we are only now able to fully reckon with, and a reintroduction to music we can’t get enough of.
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Luther Vandross
USA
2024
English
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Dawn Porter, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Tom Mackay, Richard Story, Jon Platt
Producer
Trish D. Chetty, Ged Doherty, Jamie Foxx, Datari Turner, Leah Smith
Cinematography
Bryan Gentry
Editor
Mark Fason
Production Design
Chloe Reisen
Original Music
Robert Glasper
Dawn Porter
Dawn Porter is an American documentary filmmaker and the founder of the production company Trilogy Films. Her award-winning films include Gideon’s Army (2012), Trapped (2016), and Bobby Kennedy for President (2018). As a two-time Sundance Film Festival director, Porter’s work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, MTV Films, and other platforms. Dawn’s recent projects include The Lady Bird Diaries (2023) and Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court (2023), both of which garnered her nominations for two Critics Choice Awards and a Spirit Award.
Filmography: Gideon’s Army (2012); Spies of Mississippi (2014); Trapped (2016); The Way I See It (2020); The Lady Bird Diaries (2023)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Hanging by a Wire
The Himalayas, Aug 22, 2023: a cable car bearing 8 passengers (six of them schoolkids) is left dangling 900 feet above the ground when two out of three cables snap. This nailbiting documentary recounts the increasingly frantic rescue attempts.
The Sun Never Sets
At the suggestion of her much older (divorced) boyfriend, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) takes a summer to reevaluate her life and date other people. She's reluctant at first, but then reconnects with an old flame... A gentle indie comedy from Joe Swanberg.
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.