Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

"You don't know Miles"

2019 1h 55m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 96

DocumentaryHistoryMusic

Synopsis

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An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).

“You don't know Miles”

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Cast

Carl Lumbly
Miles Davis (voice)
Reginald Petty
Self - East St. Louis Resident
Quincy Troupe
Self - Writer
Farah Griffin
Self - Writer
Lee Annie Bonner
Self - Childhood Friend
Ashley Kahn
Self - Writer
Benjamin Cawthra
Self - Historian
Jimmy Heath
Self - Musician

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stanley Nelson
Languages: English, French
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stanley Nelson, shot by Mead Hunt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yusuf Kapadia shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Carl Lumbly and Reginald Petty and Quincy Troupe carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You don't know Miles".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1305619 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stanley Nelson directs. Mead Hunt behind the camera. Yusuf Kapadia cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 7 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Stanley Nelson, shot by Mead Hunt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Yusuf Kapadia shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Carl Lumbly and Reginald Petty and Quincy Troupe carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "You don't know Miles".
8IMDB entry: tt1305619 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 96 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "drug abuse", "jazz", "jazz singer or musician", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Mead Hunt
Editing: Yusuf Kapadia
Sound: Benny Mouthon
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019)

Also by

Stanley Nelson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

SWITCH.2019-06-04
★ 8/10
Stanley Nelson combines the man and his music to give us an intimate portrait of how one mind shaped popular culture, armed only with a well-manipulated trumpet and some smooth musical notes. ‘Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool’ humanises a musical genius and ends up giving us an engrossing, hilarious, informative and heartbreaking look at the Miles Davis that music fans thought they knew. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-miles-davis-birth-of-the-cool-the-man-behind-the-jazz-legend Head to https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/sff for more Sydney Film Festival reviews.
Ersatz2026-05-28
★ 1/10
This is Weird. I thought if someone had a proven history of beating up women that people shouldn't get on their knees and worship them? But I suppose it's okay to glorify him because he was black. All is forgiven if that's the case? 🤔