'the apollo' doc about famed harlem theater to premiere at tribeca film fest

TV & Movies HBO-bound film features new interviews with Pharrell Williams, Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle and Jamie Foxx _The Apollo_, a documentary about Harlem‘s legendary star-making

theater, will premiere as part of the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Fittingly, _The Apollo_ will have its debut screening at the Apollo Theater on April 24th as part of the film festival’s

opening night festivities, with additional screenings planned before the feature-length film comes to HBO later in the year. _The Apollo_ “weaves together archival footage, music, comedy and

dance performances, and behind-the-scenes verité with the team that makes the theater run,” the Tribeca Film Festival said. The documentary also features new interviews with artists like

Pharrell Williams, Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle and Jamie Foxx. “The Apollo is about so much more than just music, it’s about how we used music and art to lift ourselves out of

oppression,“ director Roger Ross Williams said in a statement. “The story of the Apollo is the story of the evolution of black American identity and how it grew to become the defining

cultural movement of our time.  I was fortunate to make my first film with HBO and I am thrilled to be coming back home with _The Apollo_. Premiering at The Tribeca Film Festival, at the

Apollo Theater in Harlem is a dream come true.” The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival previously announced that this year’s slate will feature cast reunions for _This Is Spinal Tap_ and _Reality

Bites_.