Here I Am: Denny Doherty and The Mamas & The Papas
Almost everyone in the western world has heard Denny Doherty sing. As lead vocalist for The Mamas & The Papas, his radiant tenor voice is the essence of such hits as Monday, Monday and California Dreamin’. In this joyous and heartbreaking documentary, the tumultuous life and work of the Canadian-born singer, songwriter, actor and 1960s pop icon is revealed.
Blending a riotous tapestry of archival photographs and footage, Here I Am traces Denny’s life path from his upbringing in Halifax, Nova Scotia to his time as a folk troubadour in New York to the artistic flowering of the Sixties, the tumultuous Seventies along through to his premature death in 2007. It’s a first-person story as big as the era he embodied brought to life with his inimitable humor, compassion and truth. A string of musical gems help document the journey including The Mamas & The Papas’ mega-hits and newly found recordings.
Long-time friend and collaborator, Paul Ledoux, took countless hours of home movies, stage performances, rehearsals, and interviews with Denny’s closest friends and collaborators including Michelle Phillips, Mackenzie Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Barry McGuire to create a tender and intimate film about a man who made music history in a group that, for a short time, both rivaled and amazed The Beatles. US Premiere.
Monty Python’s Sillywalk for Hunger
Local filmmaker, and Here I Am’s cinematographer, documented SillyWalks for Hunger’s live choreographed event that transformed Hollywood’s Universal CityWalk into a scene right out of Monty Python, and set the record for the most people to silly walk in one place at one time.
