Whitney Houston film to screen Thursday night in Palm Springs

Singer Dionne Warwick will attend the screening of the documentary “Voices of Love: Whitney Houston and Her Family” on the first night of the American Documentary Film Festival.

The festival, which opens with a reception Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Camelot Theatres, will screen more than 100 documentary films from around the world before it comes to a close on Sunday.

The screening of the Houston documentary, made by Gary Keys, is at 7 p.m.

We’ve expanded our program quite a bit this year,” said festival director Ted Grouya. “We’ll be utilizing all three of the screens at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, as well as one screen at the Cinemark Century Theatres at The River in Rancho Mirage. The fact that we’ve been able to expand so quickly is a testament to the success we had with last year’s festival.”

“Voices of Love” follows the Drinkard Singers, which included Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, and Lee Warwick, Dionne Warwick’s mother.

The film includes performances by the Houstons and Dionne Warwick, never- seen footage, exclusive interviews with, and performances by, members of Houston’s family, and interviews with Natalie Cole and Aretha Franklin. Dionne Warwick will answer questions afterward.

Houston, one of the best-selling recording artists ever, was found dead in a bathtub her room at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 11, 2012, prior to the 2012 Grammy Awards. The cause was ruled to be accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.

For information and festival tickets, go to www.showclix.com and http://americandocumentaryfilmfestival.com.