*The new Whitney Houston documentary “Whitney: Can I Be Me.” premieres Apr. 26 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and it reportedly forecasts the tragic fall that led to her death in 2012.
Controversial filmmaker Nick Broomfield (“Kurt & Courtney,” “Biggie & Tupac”) did not receive the blessing of the Houston estate for the project, so he used footage from a previously unseen documentary (made by co-director Rudi Dolezal) about Houston’s 1999 tour to explore Whitney’s talent and troubled life.
Tribeca’s most-discussed feature will highlight the tension between Houston’s pop star persona and her personal life. Ahead of its premiere, Broomfield opened up to Billboard about what else he discovered about the star during filmmaking.
Check out a few excerpts from the conversation below.
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What did Houston’s touring crew, from her backup singers to her hairdresser, want to tell you?
The musicians all thought she was blessed by God. They could play their instruments as loud as they wanted, and she could soar above them, while improvising in the most incredible way. Everyone also remembered her being very funny. She was a prankster: She had incredible comedic timing, was brilliant at imitating people and had this infectious laugh that made people fall in love with her.
How has her estate approached the film?
They were aggressive and sent emails to people telling them not to take part. We didn’t want to do anything to upset them — that was never the intention. I just ignored what the estate was doing, and there were a lot of people who wanted to talk to me. You carry on and make the story that you find most compelling.
Do you think you did enough to capture Houston’s spirit in the film?
We tried to tell it from her point of view as much as possible, to get her voice in there. We asked ourselves at the end of every scene, “Do we understand where Whitney’s heart is?” There are people talking about her, but she’s very alive in the film. She’s anything but dismissed as a drug addict — you can’t help but have respect for her.
Read more at Billboard.com.
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