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{{Short description|1972 benefit concert and film in Watts, Los Angeles, California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name =Wattstax | image =Wattstax_poster_1973.jpg | caption = Theatrical poster | director =[[Mel Stuart]] | producer =Larry Shaw<br>Mel Stuart | writer = | starring = [[The Staple Singers]]<br/>[[Richard Pryor]]<br>[[Carla Thomas]]<br>[[Rufus Thomas]]<br>[[Luther Ingram]]<br>[[Kim Weston]]<br>[[Johnnie Taylor]]<br/>[[The Bar-Kays]]<br>[[Isaac Hayes]]<br>[[Albert King]] | music = | cinematography = [[John A. Alonzo]] | studio = [[Stax Records|Stax Films]]<br>Wolper Pictures | distributor =[[Columbia Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1973|02|04}} | runtime = 103 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = $1,560,000 <small>(rentals)</small><ref>"Big Rental Films of 1973". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', January 9, 1974. pg 60.</ref> }} '''''Wattstax''''' was a benefit concert organized by [[Stax Records]] to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the [[Watts riots|1965 riots]] in the [[African-American]] community of [[Watts, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/jul/20/artsfeatures.features1 |first=James |last=Maycock |title=Loud and Proud |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=19 July 2002 |access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-black-music-wattstax-20150819-story.html |title=Perspective: Remembering the 1972 Wattstax concert brings us to crucial voices of Kendrick Lamar, Prince |date=18 August 2015 |last1=Kennedy |first1=Gerrick|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref> The concert took place at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] on August 20, 1972. The concert's performers included all of Stax's prominent artists at the time. The genres of the songs performed included [[soul music|soul]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[R&B]], [[blues]], [[funk]], and [[jazz]]. Months after the festival, Stax released a double LP of the concert's highlights, ''Wattstax: The Living Word''. The concert was filmed by [[David L. Wolper]]'s film crew and was made into the 1973 film titled ''Wattstax''. The film was directed by [[Mel Stuart]] and nominated for a [[Golden Globe]] award for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary Film|Best Documentary Film]] in 1974. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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