Filmed record of a landmark benefit concert staged in 1972 at the L.A. Coliseum, punctuated by interviews with residents of L.A.'s Watts neighborhood and monologues from Richard Pryor. Music acts include the Dramatics, the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Kim Weston, Jimmy Jones, Albert King, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Luther Ingram. Directed by Mel Stuart. Included in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry for historical, cultural and aesthetic merit. The 50th anniversary of Wattstax was celebrated with reissued and expanded audio recordings, available from the library.

"Once In a while, a muslc-oriented film can transcend the ordinary and become a chronicle of a social mood instead of an on-film record of a concert. It was that way with Monterey Pop and Woodstock; it Is that way with Wattstax." — Detroit Free Press

R, 102 min., 1973. Closed captions (CC) in English.