''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'' is a 2009 American documentary film about a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

by Margo Sappington called "Common People", which was set to the music of William Shatner and Ben Folds from their album '' Has Been''.http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=65996 The City Paper, By Ron Wynn (February 11, 2009), "Shatner beaming down to Nashville Film Festival", accessed 02-19-2009https://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0473655.htm CNN Money (February 12, 2009), "Big Screen Entertainment Group and William Shatner to Walk the Red Carpet at Nashville International Film Festival", accessed 02-19-2009http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090211/ENTERTAINMENT04/902110408/1005/ENTERTAINMENT '' The Tennessean'', By Dave Paulson (February 11, 2009)), "William Shatner will bring documentary to Nashville film fest = Star's movie tracks creation of a ballet", accessed 01-19-2009 " Common People" was one of the ''Has Been'' tracks, and was a cover of a Pulp song from their 1995 '' Different Class'' album. The film explores the genesis of this unique artistic collaboration by fusing the music, poetry, and dance of "Common People" with interviews by William Shatner, Ben Folds, Margo Sappington, and Henry Rollins. Shatner plays a prominent role in the film and also acted as Executive Producer. The film was made by Special Entertainment and Big Screen Entertainment Group in association with Shatner's Melis Productions. The documentary had a very well received World Premiere at the Nashville Film Festival in April 2009, where it won the President's Impact Award. William Shatner attended and, to the delight of the audience, provided additional insights into his recording of "Has Been" and the ballet. Ben Folds and Margo Sappington were also in attendance. ''Variety'' magazine called the film "surprisingly revealing" and indieWire reviewed that "Shatner comes across as a true original." After the premiere in Nashville the film screened at the Rhode Island Film Festival, DocFest Stratford, the Milwaukee Film Festival, the Wild Rivers Film Festival, the Edmonton International Film Festival, the Indie Memphis Film Festival, and the San Diego Film Festival. In October 2009 the film screened at the Marbella International Film Festival in Spain, where it won the Best Documentary award. William Shatner attended the festival and accepted the award. The film also won a Telly Award in 2012. In 2013, as an April Fool's Day prank, Netflix created a new genre called "Surreal Ballets Based on a William Shatner Album" and listed the film 50 times in each user's account. The world television premiere was a multi-platform release through EPIX, a joint venture between

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, and Lionsgate. The film was available on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

from 2011 through 2015 and was later released on Sundance Now,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, iTunes, and others. In October 2020 it was released on Blu-ray by Shout Factory.

References

External links

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Review by ''Variety''Gonzo Ballet Website
{{William Shatner American documentary films Documentary films about ballet 2009 films William Shatner 2009 documentary films Ben Folds Films produced by William Shatner 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films