We Want the Funk!
We Want the Funk! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul and early jazz roots to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown’s dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle and Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, the story also traces funk’s influences on both new wave and hip-hop.
Thank you to our screening partners: Philadelphia Music Alliance, Firelight Media
Directors Spotlight
Stanley Nelson
Director
Stanley Nelson is today’s leading documentarian of the African American experience. His films combine compelling narratives with rich historical detail to shine new light on the under-explored American past. Awards received over the course of his career include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and an Oscar Nomination.
Nicole London
Director
Nicole London is the Grammy Award-nominated producer of Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, which was also awarded a 2021 News and Documentary Emmy Award. Recent credits include Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, The Talk: Race in America, and 16 films now playing in the Segregation Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum.
- Year
- 2025
- Runtime
- 80 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Director
- Stanley Nelson & Nicole London
- Producer
- Nicole London, Stanley Nelson
- Executive Producer
- Carrie Lozano, Keith Brown, Lois Vossen, Marcia Smith
- Editor
- Mark Fason, Richard Lowe
- Premiere
- Philadelphia