Linda Ronstadt’s voice will be hitting theaters…

Greenwich Entertainment and 1091 (formerly The Orchard) have co-acquired the North American distribution rights to Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. 

The documentary, directed by Oscar winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and produced by CNN Films, had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festivalin April and recently took the Documentary Audience Awardat the Provincetown International Film Festival.

Co-financed by PCH Filmsand CNN Films, the latter has also acquired broadcast television rights for North America. It will open in theaters in September. 

It is a powerful and no-holds barred look at the 1960s and ’70s music icon whose voice transcends all genres, and as I said when I wrote about its Tribeca premiere, the film is another sterling example in the wave of musical documentaries and biopics sweeping the theatrical exhibition scene.

Constructed from interviews over 50 years, Ronstadt effectively narrates the film that documents her career from her early days in Tucson through her premature 2011 retirement due to Parkinson’s disease. She has not performed publicly in the last decade, but the film offers a heart-rending sequence towards the end that won’t leave a dry eye in the house. The doc, which won acclaim out of its Tribeca screening, includes interviews with her friends and collaborators, among them Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, JD Souther and Jackson Browne. Browne actually accompanied her back to the roots of her career in a visit to Mexico that the filmmakers captured.

“Linda Ronstadt is a rock icon who has wowed audiences across the world for decades and is a staunch human rights advocate,” said Danielle DiGiacomo, SVP of Acquisitions and Strategic Partnerships for 1091, and Ed Arentz, Co-Managing Director of Greenwich Entertainment. “We’re excited to partner with Rob, Jeffrey, James, Michele and CNN to bring this powerful documentary to audiences across the country.”