Milford Graves Full Mantis

"Rhythmically right on, jagged and likely to zig when you think it's going to zag." (Rolling Stone)

Milford Graves has performed internationally since 1964, both as a soloist and in ensembles with such legends as Albert Ayler, Giuseppi Logan and Sonny Sharrock. He is a founding pioneer of avant-garde jazz, and he remains one of the most influential living figures in the evolution of the form.

The film draws the viewer through the artist’s lush garden and ornate home, into the martial arts dojo in his backyard and the laboratory in his basement - all of this just blocks from where he grew up in the housing projects of South Jamaica, Queens - to form "a beautiful and carefully constructed portrait of a uniquely talented human being." (Screen Anarchy)

Oscillating from present to past and weaving intimate glimpses of the artist’s complex cosmology with blistering performances from around the globe, MILFORD GRAVES FULL MANTIS is cinema full of fluidity, polyrhythm and intensity, embodying the essence of Graves’ music itself.

WINNER of the Sarasota Independent Film Festival's Independent Visions jury prize (the first time a documentary has ever been considered in that category).

OFFICIAL SELECTION of SXSW, Film Society of Lincoln Center's 'Art of the Real', Rotterdam International Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, CPH: DOX, IndieLisboa, Maryland Film Festival and many others.