Amazing Grace, a documentary about the singer Aretha Franklin, will no longer screen at the Toronto film festival, which begins on Thursday.
The film has become the subject of a legal wrangle between its producers and the singer, who filed a suit against them last week to block a screening at the Telluride film festival. Franklin’s attorney, Jon D Cantor, said a screening in October at the Chicago film festival had also been cancelled.
This suggests hopes for those wanting to see the film at some point are looking slimmer, as October falls some distance outside the 14-day restraining order imposed on the producers last Friday.
Lawyers for Franklin argue that permission was only originally granted to Sydney Pollack (who died in 2008) to shoot concert footage on the understanding it would not be used for commercial gain without her consent.
A representative for Tiff said: “We are extremely disappointed that Toronto audiences will not be able to see this extraordinary piece of art. The footage in the film is truly a cinematic treasure of 20th century music and we hope global audiences will have opportunity to experience this film once a resolution is found.”
