Sander Vanocur Movies

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paola di Florio directs Home of the Brave, a documentary about the impact of Viola Liuzzo's murder. Detroit housewife and mother of five, Liuzzo was a civil rights activist who went to Alabama to help with voter registration in 1965. She was in town during the pivotal march organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which ended in violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge near Selma. While trying to transport the tear-gased marchers in her car, she was shot by three members of the Ku Klux Klan. Suspects Eugene Thomas, Collie Leroy Wilkins Jr., and William Orville Eaton were found guilty of civil rights violations and later acquitted. The film also explores the FBI investigation in the aftermath of her death, as well as the reaction in the Liuzzo home. Home of the Brave was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the documentary competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Elvis the Pelvis stands still long enough to reveal his spiritual side, as he performs 35 pure gospel songs, which are juxtaposed with interviews of some famous gospel singers who knew the him. Featured are performances of "Peace in the Valley," "Crying in the Chapel," "Amazing Grace," "Bosom of Abraham," and "This Time, You Gave Me a Mountain." Some performances offer intimate glimpses of the King's life with friends as they gather together to sing. The two-part program, narrated by Sander Vanocur, was made after Elvis' death. But those who knew and worked with him, including Myrna Smith (The Sweet Inspirations) and Ray Walker (The Jordanaires), speak eloquently of Elvis' religious faith and of his Southern gospel roots. ~ Rovi