Director Steven Soderbergh has completed an as-yet-untitled documentary centered around John Lennon’s final interview, which he describes as an “incredible historical document” and one that is “even more meaningful today” than it was on the fateful day 45 years ago, December 8, 1980, when Lennon was murdered.
“I’m so excited,” Soderbergh said while speaking at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, where his latest film, “The Christophers,” will be released globally after its Toronto premiere.
Given the historical importance of the interviews, his job is to present the documents “in a way that enhances and does not distract from the interviews,” he said. “I’m not trying to reinvent the format. I just want to make a movie that allows as many people as possible to hear what John and Yoko said the afternoon before they were killed,” Soderbergh said.
“They both spoke very freely. Having been interviewed many times, I was surprised at how open and excited they were,” he continued. “You’d think they’d never been interviewed before.”
“So that’s what I want to convey to the audience. Everything they said 45 years ago doesn’t just have meaning today. It has more meaning in terms of terminology and relationships and politics and how we treat each other. It’s about how systems act on individuals and above all the importance of love in our daily lives and in the world,” the prolific director added.
Lennon’s last in-depth interview was with Yoko on December 8, 1980. Lennon had just turned 40 and had just returned from a five-year hiatus from the music industry to care for his son Sean. This was the only radio interview granted before and after the release of their album Double Fantasy. That afternoon, they met with the RKO Radio team at their New York City apartment, The Dakota, and had a wide-ranging conversation.
Twelve hours later, Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside Dakota.
The as-yet-untitled John Lennon documentary will be Soderbergh’s first feature-length documentary in years, following the artist’s 2010 portrait of Spalding Gray, “And Everything’s Alright.”
Executive producers on the project include Soderbergh, Michael Sugar and David Hillman of Sugar23, Nancy Saslow and David Hudson of Mishpuka Entertainment Group.
