The Man in Black was, of course, Johnny Cash. Saul Holiff was his long-time manager, a dedicated, remote, often cruel man who committed suicide and left his son with a lot of unanswered questions. Following his father’s suicide, director Jonathan Holiff discovers hundreds of letters and audio diaries, including recorded phone calls with Johnny Cash during his crazed pill-fueled 1960s jags, triumphs at Folsom and San Quentin, wedding to June Carter, and his conversion in the early 1970s to born-again Christian. Mixing found footage, creative re-enactments and poignant voice-over narration, the documentary tells a riveting story with creative means as well as an act of catharsis for its maker. Director Holiff joins us for a conversation on the professional and person journey he undertook in making this gripping film about a father he barely knew.

Director Jonathan Holiff will be doing Q&As at the Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills opening weekend. The Johnny Cash tribute band The Mighty Cash Cats will perform at 6:30PM on September 6 prior to the 7:15PM showing. 

“Extraordinary… As Cash might say, it has the heart, and it has the blood, and by the time childhood chatter is played back again, feeling is soaked through it like the sweat in Cash’s guitar strap.” – Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

“Incredibly eye-opening and extraordinary thanks to endearingly personal accounts and strong archival footage.” View London

Film Festival Awards:  2012 EDINBURGH DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL (Winner, Best Documentary) 2012 HAMBURG INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (Winner, Best Documentary) 2012 VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Top 10 Audience Favorite) 2012 CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Top 10 Audience Favorite) 2013 MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL (Winner, Best Documentary) 2013 TIBURON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Winner, Orson Welles Award)