Woodstock Doc to Return to Theaters for Festival’s 50th Anniversary

By Christine Fernando  |  July 19, 2019 | 4:35pm
Images via Fathom Events
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Woodstock Doc to Return to Theaters for Festival’s 50th Anniversary

Fans will get a chance this summer to relive one of the most seminal moments in music history—and really, in American history altogether.

The documentary Woodstock is returning to movie theaters for one night only to give viewers a taste of that momentous weekend.

Fifty years ago next month, the Woodstock music festival took the world by storm. Billed as “An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music,” no one realized what the weekend would become.

The next year, director Michael Wadleigh released Woodstock, a groundbreaking film capturing the people, moments and music that made Woodstock what it was. One of the most acclaimed documentaries in history, Woodstock is touted as one of the best films made about the chaotic, insurgent times of the 1960s.

To celebrate the festival’s 50th anniversary, Fathom Events is working with Warner Bros. to bring the film back to the big screen, playing the movie at 7 p.m. local time in theaters nationwide on Aug. 15 only.

The event definitely sounds more organized than another 50th anniversary celebration, the crapshoot that is Woodstock 50, an intended reboot of the original festival weekend that seems to be more about peace, love and legal battles.

“Both as a documentary and as a pop-culture phenomenon, Woodstock is a milestone, a pivotal moment in history captured forever, proving the enduring power of cinema,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events, in a statement. “Fifty years later, there has never been anything quite like it, either as a music festival or as a film, and Fathom Events is proud to be part of the anniversary of Woodstock.”

Directed by Wadleigh, also known for 1981’s horror flick Wolfen, Woodstock was beloved by fans and critics alike, launched into the list of top-grossing films of 1970, and even nabbed an Oscar for Best Editing thanks to Martin Scorsese’s longtime collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker. With clean split-screen and multi-screen sequences, the movie continues to be heralded for its editing.

Clocking in at a whopping 3 hours and 44 minutes, the film features performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jefferson Airplane and Joan Baez, among countless other now-legendary artists, for a total of 30 musical performances.

The screenings will feature the director’s cut of the film, which features exclusive performances from the likes of Joplin and Jefferson Airplane.

“But apart from the raw, intimate ways it captures the performances, Woodstock also offers extraordinary insight into the people who attended the festival, the chaotic mood of the era, and the incendiary sparks let off by the event,” a press release explains.

Tickets are available starting today, July 19, but since it’s a one-day-only event, you better snap them up quick here. Check out Fathom’s poster for the screenings below.

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