By Maria Esteves – March 14, 2013

AKA DOC POMUS, directed by Peter Miller and Will Hechter, conceived by Sharyn Felder premiered at the 22nd New York Jewish Film Festival, January 9, and the 5th Annual Reelabilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival, March 12, 2013. Celebrity guests, industry professionals, festival attendees, cast, and crew attended the sold out premieres. A post screening Q&A session with director Miller, producer Felder, and editor Amy Linton (NYJFF) immediately followed.

Music the universal language is medicine for the soul. King David in ancient Israel recognized the healing power of music. AKA DOC POMUS is a powerful and passionate music documentary about one of the greatest American music composer of 20th century blues and rock ‘n’ roll, Jerome Felder known as Doc Pomus (1925 - 1991). A native New Yorker of Jewish descent from Brooklyn, with a soulful spirit and zest for life, contracted polio at age six and used crutches to walk. At age seventeen, Felder began as a blues singer using the stage name Doc Pomus in Greenwich Village, became a Grammy Award winning composer and 3-time music Hall of Fame inductee (Blues, Rock n Roll, Songwriters).

Doc Pomus in the studio 1950s.

The film’s powerful archival footage (b/w, color) includes interviews and testimonials with biographer Alex Halberstadt, B.B. King, Ben E. King, DION, Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), Geoffrey Felder (Doc’s son), Jimmy Scott, Jerry Lieber, Joan Osborne, Ken Hirsch, Raoul Felder (Doc’s brother), Willi Burke (Doc’s wife) reveals the most gifted songwriter of our time, his spirit of generosity and compassion.

“All greatness comes from pain” - Raoul Felder, AKA Doc Pomus

Award winning composer Doc Pomus in New York during the1980s.

AKA DOC POMUS captures classic hits written and co-written by Doc such as Lonely Avenue, by Ray Charles, This Magic Moment, by Ben E. King with the Drifters, A Teenager In Love, by Dion & The Belmonts, Save The Last Dance For Me, by Ben E. King with the Drifters, There Must Be A Better World Somewhere, by B.B. King, and Can’t Get Used To Loosing You, by Andy Williams.

Doc Pomus and his partner Mort Shuman on piano at
their penthouse studio in the Brill Building, New York.

Doc’s 1,000 songs included music written as well as for film for the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ Elvis Presley (A Mess of Blues, Little Sister, Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy, Surrender, Suspicion). The Afro-Caribbean music from the 1950s migration of Puerto Ricans in New York City influenced Doc and his partner Mort Shuman to write another hit Sweets For My Sweet, performed by the Drifters.

The 22nd anniversary of Jerome Felder’s death is March 17, 2013. Work is in progress by NYC Council Member Diana Reyna of the 34th District in Brooklyn/Queens to have a street co-name on Manhattan Avenue between McKibbin and Boreum Streets bearing the name ‘Doc Pomus Place’ in the interest of preserving Brooklyn’s rich cultural history for future generations. Doc’s music is indeed medicine for the soul! His legacy is a gift for future generations.

Former director of Family Day Care Richard Oppenheimer,
Nuestros Ninos Child Development School, with NYC Council
Member Diana Reyna, 34th District Brooklyn/Queens holding
the latest Doc Pomus - Singer & Songwriter 2 CD set and book
Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus
at the Democrat for New York City Council meeting in
Brooklyn, Saturday, March 2, 2013.

AKA DOC POMUS, directed by Peter Miller and Will Hechter, conceived by Sharyn Felder | A Clear Lake Historical Productions | USA/Canada | 2012 | 99 m | 2013 New York Premieres: 22nd New York Jewish Film Festival, 5th Annual Reelabilities: NY Disabilities. For Festival Circuit Screenings, visit http://akadocpomus.com/screenings. View Trailer

Now available Doc Pomus - Singer & Songwriter music 2CD set and book Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus, by Alex Halberstadt.