Any fan of pop music who was alive and aware of the iconic singers of the day, would have to agree that the greatest night in pop happened January 28, 1985.
The photograph taken for the cover of LIFE magazine and to use as publicity around the world, shows the group of 46 musicians who gathered immediately following the American Music Awards and pulled an all-nighter to record a single and a video performing the song "We Are The World."
We all know the song but few of us know the whole story of how and why the event occurred. Director Bao Nguyen, who was only 5 years old in 1985 teamed up Lionel Richie, co-writer of the song, to construct a wonderful documentation of the efforts it took to make the magic happen.
These super-star musicians were instructed by Quincy Jones to "leave your egos at the door!" They became a family that night, singing, laughing, stressing out and hanging together to raise funds for famine victims in Africa.
The film's team had access to vintage audio and video footage and combined that with interviews of participants and narration by Lionel Richie.
Richie joined in the post-film Q & A. He added a few more personal stories and a lot of insight. This was Richie's first time at Sundance and he very much enjoyed holding court for the receptive audience.