Phil Ochs in the News

On Screen - Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
EYEWEEKLY.com
By James Anderson
“He was like the hero of his own movie,” says Sean Penn of the singer-songwriter who blazed a path for artistic do-gooders. But it wouldn’t be easy for Phil Ochs to maintain his self-made image as a valiant troubadour striving to rid America of all that ailed her. As Kenneth Bowser’s documentary makes painfully clear, the personal toll would be immense. One of the key figures to emerge from the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early ’60s, and the author of “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”—the de facto anthem of the anti-war movement—Ochs would die by his own hand in 1976, at the age of 35.

What killed Phil Ochs?
NOW Magazine
By Susan G. Cole
Director argues politics, as much as illness, brought him down

Q&A with Director of Phil Ochs Documentary Part of Opening Night Event at Gables Cinema
Miami New Times
By Sebastian Del Marmol
Despite what we've seen on Mad Men, the Sixties were not all about capitalistic greed. In fact, the decade witnessed the explosion of counterculture movements, social revolution, and most importantly the birth of the hippies. Enter Phil Ochs. The anti-Don Draper.

‘Ochs’ more than just a biopic
Toronto Sun
By Liz Braun
More than just a biopic of the famed troubadour, Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune is also a brief, brisk, brilliant history of social turmoil in America in the '60s.

Friday Film: Phil Ochs Finally Gets His Biopic
Forward.com
By Susie Davidson
Last month, fans of 1960s singer-songwriter Phil Ochs got some long-delayed gratification when the film “Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune,” directed by Kenneth Bowser, opened in limited release at New York’s IFC Center. With reviews ranging from good to excellent, the movie is now scheduled for runs at 57 theaters nationwide. Aficionados are optimistic that the enigmatic topical singer will finally get the recognition he craved.

New Phil Ochs Film: Still Marchin' Across the Land
The Nation
By Greg Mitchell
When the new documentary about legendary political folk singer Phil Ochs opened in New York early last month, its touring schedule cited only nine cities in all. But after playing for four weeks in New York, and doing well elsewhere, it's now opened or is opening across the country in a total of 60 cities. It's debuting today, for example, everywhere from Coral Gables, Fla. to Toronto, Ontario.

Ambition runs head-on into reality
The Columbus Dispatch
By Stephen Holden
To say that 1960s folk singer Phil Ochs dreamed big is to understate the size of his ambition.

Two music docs sing vastly different tunes
The Globe and Mail
By Liam Lacey
Two documentary musical biographies are being released in Toronto this week, both artifacts of the pop-music big bang of the 1960s.

Movie Review - Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune
NOW Magazine
By Susan G. Cole
Would a gifted artist kill himself in response to his political environment? Kenneth Bowser makes that argument in his documentary about charismatic songwriter Phil Ochs.