"Let’s Have Some Church Detroit Style" tells the story of The Hallelujah Singers, a 25-member community choir, and its charismatic leader, E. LaQuint Weaver II.
A new documentary overflows with pure Detroit sounds and scenes that are naturally uplifting -- and have absolutely nothing to do with downtown, investments, start-ups or craft beverages.
A gospel chorus is the focus of "Let's Have Some Church Detroit Style," premiering Sunday afternoon at the Detroit Film Theatre as part of the Free Press Film Festival. (Ticket details are here.)
"Detroit is also a main character of the film," a national gospel music writer says. Above is a scene from the documentary.
A 10-minute preview is below and the Journal of Gospel Music, based in Chicago, has a praise-filled description by Bob Marovich. Excerpts:
Directed by Michigan filmmaker Andrew Sacks, "Let’s Have Some Church Detroit Style" tells the story of Dr. E. LaQuint Weaver II and The Hallelujah Singers, a 25-member community choir from Detroit nominated in 2014 for nine Rhythm of Gospel Awards, including the highest honor, CD of the Year. The film explores the personal lives of Weaver and his choristers while chronicling the group’s preparation to attend the awards show in Birmingham, Ala.
The documentary does not turn on the simple will-they-or-won’t-they-win conceit. It is smarter than that. . . .The film is a sympathetic look at how the hope and endurance of a sacred singing community overcome individual and collective trials. . . .
The singers are police officers, auto workers, students, health providers, adult caregivers and ministers. . . . One scene in particular, featuring extraordinary vocalist Rosa Warner-Jones leading “Elijah Rock,” is a revelation.
Naturally, "Detroit is also a main character of the film," as Marovich puts it. Amid bankruptcy, home foreclosures and other struggles, The Hallelujah Singers serve as "the Greek chorus reminding everyone that hope trumps trouble," the writer adds.
The backgrounds of the filmmaker and chorus leader show how "the story behind the documentary is almost as fascinating as the film itself," according to the national journal's report.
Sacks, a 51-year-old graduate from the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design (1969), is a former photojournalist with a freelance photography and video business in Chelsea called SaxPix.
He briefly lived in the same northwest Detroit neighborhood as Weaver. Sacks’ family moved when he was five, according to the article, "but his love for African American music, especially jazz, which he learned studying piano, was cultivated by listening faithfully to DJ Ed Love on Detroit radio station WCHD," the online article says.
This is his first feature film, supported by $25,035 in Kickstarter donations last year.
Weaver, originally from Birmingham, Ala., stayed in Detroit and graduated from Mumford High School. Fellow gospel singers “Fred Hammond, BeBe Winans, the Clark Sisters — they all came out of Mumford,” he tells Marovich, who adds: "Gospel singer and reality television actor Deitrick Haddon is another Mumford alumnus."
After the 4 p.m. premiere March 22, Sacks and Weaver will answer questions and the Hallelujah Singers will show their skills.
