When We Were Kings
| When We Were Kings | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Leon Gast |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
Maryse Alberti Paul Goldsmith Kevin Keating Albert Maysles Roderick Young |
| Edited by | Leon Gast Taylor Hackford Jeffrey Levy-Hinte Keith Robinson |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
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Release date
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January 1996 (Sundance) October 25, 1996 |
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Running time
|
89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,789,985 |
When We Were Kings is a 1996 Academy Award winning documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The fight was held in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) on October 30, 1974.
The film features a number of celebrities, including James Brown, Jim Brown, B.B. King, Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee and Thomas Hauser.
When We Were Kings was released in 1996 to strong reviews, and won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
It took Gast 22 years to edit and finance the documentary before it was finally released.
The film shows the buildup to the fight. Ali is shown talking about his beliefs regarding Africans and African-Americans, speaking of the inherent dignity of the native Africans and his hopes for African-Americans in the future. His relationship with the people of Zaire is shown, with the mutual love between Ali and the people of the nation contrasted with Foreman's awkward and unsuccessful efforts to build his own popularity. Promoter Don King is shown working on his first big promotion, and singers James Brown and B. B. King performing in Zaire. The film contains footage of the "black " soul music festival accompanying the fight, which is more fully documented in the 2008 film Soul Power. The film also emphasises the questionable ethics of locating the fight in Zaïre, as it was funded by the brutal dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko.
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Wikipedia