Gimme Shelter (1970 film)

Gimme Shelter
Original film poster
Directed by	Albert and David Maysles Charlotte Zwerin
Produced by	Porter Bibb Ronald Schneider
Starring	The Rolling Stones
Cinematography	Albert and David Maysles
Edited by	Ellen Hovde Charlotte Zwerin
Distributed by	Maysles Films Cinema V (UK) 20th Century Fox (USA)
Release date	December 6, 1970
Running time	91 min
Country	United States
Language	English

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the group's 1969 album Let It Bleed. The film was screened at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.

The counterculture era documentary is associated with the Direct Cinema movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It was directed by The Maysles Brothers who are strong figures of the era. The movement revolves around the philosophy of being a "reactive" filmmaker, recording events as they unfold naturally and spontaneously rather than investigating the subject matter through documentary techniques such as interviews, reconstruction and voiceover.

The film depicts some of the Madison Square Garden concert later featured on the 1969 live album, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert, as well as the photography session for the cover featuring Charlie Watts and a donkey. It also shows the Stones at work in Muscle Shoals, Alabama recording "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses", and footage of Ike and Tina Turner opening for the Stones at their Madison Square Garden concert, to Mick Jagger's comment, "It's nice to have a chick occasionally".