Screen Siren Pictures, Chapman Productions, Films à Cinq/CAPA Press, Photon Films
presents

REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World

a thrilling recount of “the second most important event in rock & roll history”

Directed by Ron Chapman

TRAILER

Whistler Film Festival
Maury Young Arts Centre (4335 Blackcomb Way)
Dec. 2 @ 8:30pm
Dec. 4 @ 5:45pm

Opens in Select Cinemas across Canada beginning Dec 16, 2022

Hamilton – Playhouse Cinema
Dec. 16 – 17

Victoria – The Vic Theatre
Dec. 16 – 22

Toronto – Hot Docs Cinema
Dec. 17 – 22 / 27 – 29
** Special Screening Saturday December 17 in Toronto, Hot Docs Cinema **
Post Q+A with ALAN CROSS
Director RON CHAPMAN
RNR Revival Concert Promoter/Film Subject JOHN BROWER
Musician/Film Subject GEDDY LEE
Musician (The Doors)/Film Subject ROBBY KRIEGER (by Zoom)

Ottawa – Bytowne Cinema
Dec. 18 + 22

Vancouver – Vancity
Dec. 19 – 20 / 22 – 23 / Jan. 4

Toronto – Fox Theatre
Dec. 20 – 22
Q+A with Director Ron Chapman

Waterloo – Princess Cinema
Dec. 30 – Jan. 2

Guelph – The Bookshelf
Dec. 30, 31, Jan. 2

London – Hyland Cinema
Dec. 30 – Jan. 5 

In 1969, there were three music festivals that changed the world. And “the second most important event in rock & roll history” was a one-day music festival held at the University of Toronto’s 20,000 seat Varsity Stadium called the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival.

REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World, tells the incredible behind-the-scenes, story of how, against all odds, a life-changing concert came together. A story of passion and perseverance, this never-before documented story reveals a series of colourful characters, murky deals and broken promises, culminating in John Brower, a young renegade promoter, putting his life on the line (literally) in order to achieve his goal.

With dismal ticket sales, the concert was almost cancelled. But Brower took a one-in-a-million chance and invited John Lennon, who said yes, propelling the concert into a massively successful event. Included in the stellar lineup were Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Gene Vincent, The Doors, Alice Cooper, and John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Band – his first appearance without the Beatles, that included Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White. 

The film uses a priceless cinematic archive that includes unreleased concert and backstage footage from D.A. Pennebaker’s original shot 16mm film, and a narrative primarily told through the eyes of those who were there. 

The film is distributed in Canada by Photon Films. Myriad Pictures distributes outside of Canada. The film will be available on Crave in Canada, and on ARTE in France and Germany.

The 90-minute feature documentary was filmed in 2021, shooting in Toronto, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, London, and Munich. 

**The impressive list of interview subjects can be found here**

REVIVAL69 is a Photon Films, Telefilm, Screen Siren Pictures, Chapman Productions and Pennebaker Hegedus Films presentation. A CRAVE Original documentary in association with Myriad Pictures. A Screen Siren Pictures, Chapman Productions and Capa Presse/Les Films A Cinq Production. Directed by Ron Chapman, Produced by Trish Dolman, Ron Chapman, Sally Blake. Written by Phyllis Ellis. Executive Produced by Donn Alan Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Frazer Pennebaker, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, Kirk D’Amico of Myriad Pictures, Mark Slone of Photon Pictures. And produced in association with Crave, Photon Films, and ARTE. 

With the participation of Rogers Cable Network Fund, Rogers Telefund, Rogers Documentary Fund. With the assistance of Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund. 

In 2022, Screen Siren Pictures celebrates 25 years in business as an active, independent production company based in Vancouver, Canada. President and founder Trish Dolman established herself as an award-winning producer and documentary director before joining forces with producer Christine Haebler in 2009. Collectively, our productions have screened at Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, TIFF and many other international festivals. Together, our motto is making media that “changes the conversation.” Since its inception, Screen Siren has produced numerous award-winning documentaries and feature films.

Screen Siren’s last feature film, FRENCH EXIT, an Ireland-Canada co-production with Elevation Pictures and Blinder Films, is an adaptation of Canadian author Patrick DeWitt’s award-winning novel and stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges and was produced for Sony Pictures Classics and Sony Worldwide. The film closed NYFF 2020, and garnered Pfeiffer both a Golden Globe award nomination and a Canadian Screen Award win for best performance by an actress in a leading role. Previously, the company produced the  feature film INDIAN HORSE, an adaptation of the award-winning novel by Ojibway author Richard Wagamese which was the highest-grossing English-Canadian theatrical release of 2018. After a world premiere at TIFF,  INDIAN HORSE enjoyed a lengthy festival run where the film won 24 honours and awards.

At TIFF 2020, SSP launched the long-awaited follow up feature documentary THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL. In 2021, the company launched the multi-narrative, award-winning 4-part documentary history series BRITISH COLUMBIA: AN UNTOLD HISTORY for Knowledge Network. Screen Siren continues to build its operation and strengthen its reputation as a leader in the production of high-calibre, Canadian film, television and digital media. Currently the company is launching Marie Clements’ latest hybrid feature film and five-part series BONES OF CROWS which premiered at TIFF 2022.

Chapman Productions is a Toronto-based, internationally known production house, owned and operated by award-winning filmmaker Ron Chapman. Established in 1984, the company originally created rock videos and went on to produce award-winning television and film commercials for top international brands.

Since 2012, Chapman Productions has been producing and directing feature documentaries which have garnered acclaim worldwide and aired on major networks and platforms around the world. They include: Who the F**K is Arthur Fogel, featuring Lady Gaga, U2, The Police, Madonna, Rush and key music industry insiders; The Poet of Havana, with Carlos Varela, Benicio del Toro and Jackson Browne; The Forbidden Shore, an in-depth exploration of Cuba’s top musical artists. The concert film, Carlos Varela Live in Havana, was released internationally in ’21 along with a limited edition boxed set including The Poet of Havana, and a double album of the live concert. 

Chapman Productions released two significant films in 2021, Shelter, an immigrant story that helped shape a city, (filmed in Canada and Poland) and From Earth to Sky, the story of seven Indigenous architects from Turtle Island, (filmed across Canada, USA, New Zealand and in Venice Italy), both broadcast on Canadian national television networks and currently playing on the international film festival circuit. Scheduled for release in 2022 is a short documentary film, The Gift of The Artist, Inside the Al Green Sculpture Studio, and the feature documentary, REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World.

Films à Cinq is the combination of two producers, Sally Blake and Martin de la Fouchardière and the fusion of two cultures – Anglo and French. This linguistic combination has led to a long history of co-productions between French and English-speaking countries. Our documentary films about science and the environment, cinema and art, continually push for experimentation and excellence. Our work has been nominated for Emmys, selected at Cannes, appeared on major television networks around the world and been released in cinemas across North America.

Recent films include: The Secret History of Writing, a globe spanning history of writing and how it shaped human civilizations (ARTE, BBC, PBS) Reef Rescue, following the urgent quest of scientists to buy time for the world’s coral reefs (Vulcan Productions, ARTE and CBC – Winner, Jackson Wild Media Awards), and Kingdom of the North one man’s odyssey to follow polar bears over the course of a year in Canada’s Hudson Bay (France 3, National Geographic Wild, CBC).

Previous films include: The Messenger about the vertiginous decline of songbirds, which premiered at Hot Docs and was released cinematically throughout Canada and the US (Netflix, ARTE, CBC, Canal D, winner Best Conservation Film at Jackson Wild, Buffon prize at Parisciences); Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum in co-production with Magnum Photos that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival (ARTE, BBC, TMC, Canal+); The Shadow of Gold, an investigation into the catastrophic environmental and human rights impacts of this precious metal, (ARTE, TVO, SVT, Canadian cinema release); Licence to Krill a scientific adventure into Antarctica on the trail of the little known keystone species – krill, which premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest and won Best Science Film at Jackson Wild (ARTE/PBS Nova); Beauty and Ruin about the Detroit Institute of Arts during Detroit’s near collapse (ARTE, AVRO, Superchannel, premier FIFA, official selection Austin Film Festival) and The Real History of H.I.P.H.O.P. about the world’s first hip-hop television show and the first time a person of colour appeared as a presenter on French TV (ARTE Creative).

Photon Films is an independent, Toronto-based entertainment company specializing in the development, financing, production and distribution of feature films for the domestic and international marketplace. Launched in 2010 as Pacific Northwest Pictures, Photon Films’ strategic objective is to find innovative projects from Canada and around the globe, and to work with filmmakers, distributors and sales agents locally and internationally to maximize commercial success while maintaining creative integrity. Heading Photon Films is CEO Zanne Devine and President Mark Slone. Rounding out the team is Sardé Hardie, Vice President Acquisitions & Sales, Steve St. Amant, Director of Marketing and Publicity, Marisa Friesen, Director of Theatrical and Digital Sales and Julian Ritchie, Marketing and Administrative Coordinator.