Shannon Hoon, Blind Melon documentary to debut at Tribeca
After many years of work, painstaking dedication and who knows how many trips to review footage with his family, the Shannon Hoon documentary is coming out.
“All I Can Say,” a film made with love and devotion by Danny Clinch based on footage filmed by the late Shannon Hoon, will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April.
It’s one of more than 100 films featured in the 12 day festival, one of 81 world premieres and 51 documentaries, selected from more than 9,000 submissions.
Here’s the summary provided in the festival’s announcement:
“’All I Can Say’ is both an archive of ‘90s culture and a philosophical study of fame via the intimate video-diary of Shannon Hoon, the late lead singer of alt-rock band Blind Melon. With Shannon Hoon, Lisa Sinha, Christopher Thorn, Brad Smith, Roger Stevens, Glen Graham,” the surviving members of the band and Hoon’s long-time girlfriend and the mother of his now-teenage daughter, Nico Blue Hoon.
When Hoon died in 1995, he left behind an infant daughter, a heartbroken family, devastated friends and fans, and more than 200 hours of footage he took himself on a small camera as part of his creative process. The footage was entrusted to Clinch, who photographed the band several times during its run with Hoon; he’s worked hard and closely with Hoon’s family to carry forth their loved one’s idea.
“The film Hoon made – the film that we get to complete with him – is thorough, raw and at times experimental and we’re intent on honoring the vision he had for what he was making through this collaboration,” the film’s production team says in a Kickstarter message.
Over the course of a few years, nearly 1,200 people have donated more than $115,000 to bring this documentary to life. Supporters – this author included – has been eagerly awaiting its release, not only to see the final products for which they’ve donated, but to have one more (last?) piece of Hoon’s art in their lives.
In November, Clinch traveled to Indiana to show the movie to Hoon’s family. “Understandably, his mother and father were not quite ready to see it, but we were able to show his daughter Nico, her mother Lisa, and Shannon’s sister Anna. It was a profoundly powerful experience,” a Kickstarter update says. “They truly appreciated the film, and thanked us for this ‘gift.’ We are so grateful to have been able to spend time with all of them.”
This isn’t the only musical movie to appear at Tribeca this year: documentaries about D’Angelo, Woodstock, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, films about Linda Ronstadt, Sublime and INXS are also included in the lineup, as is a film from Jared Leto featuring footage from all 50 states filmed on a single July 4th holiday, Rolling Stone reports.
