‘Jimi: All Is By My Side’ Experience The Trailer
OutKast’s André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this revealing biopic from Academy Award-winning writer-director John Ridley (12 Years A Slave). Covering a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966-67 as an unknown backup guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to making his mark in London’s music scene up until his Monterey Pop triumph, the film presents an intimate portrait of the sensitive young musician on the verge of becoming a rock legend. Ridley chose to create the project after he discovered the Hendrix song “Sending My Love to Linda,” about fashion model Linda Keith, who heard Hendrix perform in London in 1966 and played a key role in encouraging his career. The film has caused controversy as several of Hendrix’s friends, including Kathy Etchingham, have vocally decried the film as largely fictitious. This includes scenes depicting a fictionalized Hendrix violently and repeatedly beating Etchingham (played by Hayley Atwell). In interviews given recently, Etchingham describes Hendrix as a gentle man, and the time she spent with him some of the best years of her life.