What Happened, Miss Simone?


What Happened, Miss Simone? is a 2015 American biographical documentary film about Nina Simone directed by Liz Garbus. The film opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The screening was followed by a tribute performance by John Legend. The film was released by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.

Premise

The documentary chronicles the life of American singer Nina Simone, who became a civil rights activist and moved to Liberia following the turbulence of the 1960s. The documentary combines previously unreleased archival footage and interviews with Simone's daughter and friends. The title of the film was taken from a Maya Angelou quote.

Production

was approached with the idea and rights for the film by RadicalMedia. Nina's daughter Lisa Simone Kelly served as the film's executive producer.

Reception

gave the film a B grade. Michael Hogan wrote for Vanity Fair that, "The risk of making a documentary of a towering artist is that, by explaining her, you only end up diminishing her. Not Nina Simone—not this time. In Liz Garbus's telling, Simone's talent and personality shine through, as gloriously singular, and uncontrollable, as ever." The film was selected as one of 15 shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It eventually received a nomination.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times cited the film's relevance today, calling it an "often electric, bracingly urgent documentary."

Awards

The film was nominated for the aforementioned Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but also six Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for a Nonfiction Program, winning the former. The film was also awarded a 2015 Peabody Award, presented at the 2016 award ceremony.