Coproduced with Sister productions
& Lady Noor Pictures.
āāAn intimate dive behind the scenes of one of the giants of music Ray Charles and his little known life in Paris, as seen through the lens of photographer and romantic partner of more than twenty years, Arlette Kotchounian.
Director’s statement
From the moment I was approached to make a film based on unseen archives of Ray Charles I was hooked. Growing up, Ray Charles’ music was a regular fixture on my turntable, with songs like ‘Unchain my Heart’, and ‘I Gotta Woman’, blaring out of my Dansette.
On viewing Arlette’s archives I was immediately struck by Rays natural charisma and vitality. At once charming, fun to be around, and a great storyteller the footage had an immediacy that gave a sense of being in the room with Ray. The more I watched, the more I was impressed by his clear headed, straight forward approach in all his dealings, a fiercely independent thinker and businessman with years on the road sharpening his instincts, yet always fair, direct and honest. Furiously hard working, performing eight to ten months of the year, from city to city, traveling the world, with enormous commitment to deliver a memorable and unique performance on every occasion, we come to understand that ‘genius’ is a status earned, not ordained.
My film will follow Ray Charles through three decades of visits to Paris. Set against the backdrop of a city with unique significance to the black African American musicians who performed there. Rays connection with the French public was immediate and established a long lasting love of France for Ray, a real French passion. Throughout the sixties he would be the most successful artist in France regularly performing sell out shows.
The visual record of Ray throughout these three decades is rich, with the French National archive holding one of the largest collections of Ray Charles archives, charting his performances in France from the 1960’s onward. My film will draw on these archives judiciously, maintaining a coherent cinematic language, to infect the film with a sense of the impact Ray’s music had on the French public.
In my film work I connect audiences with character driven stories told from a particular perspective. Seeing Ray through the eyes of someone who loved him, out of the limelight, brings an invaluable proximity, beyond the limited perspective of the ‘brand’. This human side connects an audience to more universal human traits to reveal Rays beautiful personality, warmth and tenderness. Twenty years have passed since Rays biopic was released, and it is thirty years since the last serious treatment of Ray Charles in a documentary. I see this film as a unique opportunity to introduce a new generation to the incredible man behind the legend of a global superstar.
Paris on my Mind, is a fresh contemporary look at one of the great artists of the twentieth century. Seen through the eyes of his loved ones, set against the backdrop of Paris, a city with a unique place in the history of black American music. Mixing contemporary filmed sequences with archive to create a rich visual tapestry, set evocatively in time and place.
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Giles Gardner