How They Got Over (2017)

Maine Film Center | Railroad Square Cinema presents

Cinema EXPLORATIONS:

A COMMUNITY-CURATED FILM SERIES

Sponsored by Colby Center for the Arts and Humanities

Black gospel quartet music served as the bedrock for the mid-twentieth-century rock ‘n’ roll boom and helped break down racial walls across America. The film showcases the history of how Black gospel quartets traveled America, innovating new musical and performance styles that would influence a host of rock ‘n’ rollers for decades to come, and giving rise to performers like Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, and Wilson Pickett. Featuring classic performance footage and interviews with some of the greatest names in gospel quartet music from the 1920s through the 1950s, the film celebrates the spirit of these performers who helped usher in a musical revolution that changed the world forever.