Sing Your Song

A portrait of singer and actor Harry Belafonte, who used his fame to support the African-American civil rights movement. "I live in a perpetual state of optimism," says Belafonte, now 84, as he looks back on his life in , coproduced by his daughter Gina. He does so in interviews and a soft-spoken voice-over, his voice grown gravelly with age but no less characteristic. The story is underscored by unique archive clips and commentary by friends, relatives and colleagues. We see his childhood in Harlem and Jamaica, we hear about his time serving in World War II, and we see his career at a glance. But the leitmotif of the film is Belafonte's ceaseless commitment to the American civil rights movement. In the 1950s, he was one of Martin Luther King's confidants; in 1968, there was controversy when the white singer Petula Clark touched Belafonte's arm during a duet for her television special; and in the 1980s, the singer was one of the driving forces behind the USA for Africa single "We Are the World." His tireless and unrelenting commitment not only influenced the course of his career, but also his personal life: Belafonte is now happily married to his third wife.