Roberta Flack’s place in music history was assured when she became the first artist to win back-to-back Grammy Awards for Record of the Year with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1973) and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1974). The depth and complexity of her lyrical and thematic choices, as well as the sophisticated mix of classical and soul influences on her style, all sprang from a woman who thoughtfully interrogated her role and identity throughout her life. Filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio has created a marvelous monument to a singular and unclassifiable musical genius, with commentary from contemporary artists whom she has inspired.
Acting
Flack's own interviews—guarded, piercing, finally letting us in.
Direction
D'Ambrosio trusts silence over hagiography; rare for music docs.
Score
Her catalogue as backbone—not nostalgia, but active argument.
Director
Antonino D'Ambrosio
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
D'Ambrosio spent seven years securing Flack's participation; she initially refused, having been burned by previous attempts to tell her story.
The film explicitly connects Flack's erasure to the broader pattern of how Black women musicians of her era were marketed as 'soul' regardless of their classical training and compositional ambitions.
US
