RESPECT YOURSELF: THE STAX RECORDS STORY

Director Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville / 2007 / USA

“Motown had the sweet, but Stax had the funk.” - Rufus Thomas, Stax Artist

In an era of heightened racism and segregation, white bank clerk Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton moved into a movie theatre in a black neighbourhood of Memphis, and turned it into a recording studio where the music the artists were making was more important than the colour of their skin.

Featuring never before seen concert footage of or interviews with the entire Stax catalogue, including Otis Redding, the Staple Sisters, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd and Booker T & the MGs, plus video of the famous 1972 ‘Wattstax' concert, Respect Yourself follows the rise and fall of a studio that unwittingly presaged the US civil rights movement, and left an indelible influence on contemporary music.

Narrated by Samuel L Jackson.

Morgan Neville is a guest of the festival.



D/P Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon WS North Star Media
TD betaSP/2007/113mins

Yalumba

Back To Index