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Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me

New York Jewish Film Festival

Film

Sunday, January 14, 2018
8:45 – 10:30 pm

What didn’t Sammy Davis, Jr. do? In this exhilarating documentary, long-time Spike Lee collaborator Sam Pollard pays tribute to the multi-talented, multi-racial entertainer by scrutinizing the political complexities and contradictions that defined his career. Amidst the violence and tensions of the Civil Rights era and after, as the political winds shifted, Sammy Davis, Jr. struggled to maintain his identity, while embracing his Judaism.  An electric portrait spanning the Depression to the 1980s, and featuring new interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, Jerry Lewis, Norman Lear, and more, I’ve Gotta Be Me embraces the unique complexity of an iconic American entertainer.

Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, 2017