Little Richard: I Am Everything

USA, Feature Documentary, 2023, 98 min

Direct from Sundance 2023

Lisa Cortés’ wildly entertaining doc…gives persuasive backup to the Black, queer trailblazer who said, I am the originator. I am the emancipator. I am the architect of rock ’n’ roll. The Hollywood Reporter

Little Richard: I Am Everything tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archives and performances that bring us into Richard’s inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. Interviews with musicians and others reveal that Richard was an influence on many, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. Throughout his life, Richard careened like a shiny cracked pinball between God, sex, and rock ‘n roll. The world tried to put him in a box, but Richard was an omni-being who contained multitudes – he was unabashedly everything. Executive produced by Dee Rees, Mike Powers, Anita May Rosenstein, Gus Wenner, Jason Fine, Amy Entelis, Courtney Sexton Produced by Robert Friedman, Lisa Cortés, Liz Yale Marsh, Caryn Capotosto and Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films

Directed by Lisa Cortes

Colorado Premiere