Directors Wade Jackson and Greg Carey
Score 6/6
In the 1970s, Memphis musician Van Duren was tipped to be the next Paul McCartney but instead faded into obscurity. Years later, two Australian friends come across his record and set out to discover what went wrong.
Okay. Before watching this documentary if you haven’t the slightest clue who Van Duren is, well it’s good to know that I’m in good company, because i didn’t either. I’d also like to say that if beginning of Tommy Emmanuel: the Endless Road made me smile then Waiting made me go listen to some of music online.
Judging by the beginning of Waiting it seems that the right kind of music has the ability to come into your life at the right time.
This is another example of the type of music documentary that I enjoy to watch. There’s part of me that would have loved to have seen this with a longer runtime because there was so much being told. With the interviews charting Van Duren’s ultimate fade into obscurity, first time filmmakers Wade Jackson and Greg Carey charting their journey from Australia to America to being able to interview Van himself and then that ending.
You need to watch Waiting: The Van Duren Story at the 2019 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.