The desire to artfully eulogize and celebrate Prince has been present and growing since the day he passed in 2016. We’ve seen his legacy recalled in peculiar ways—his videos on YouTube, a site he hated; the whole tasteless Justin Timberlake non-hologram but almost-hologram likeness thing at the Super Bowl; the looming specter of multiple posthumous albums—none of which have really tickled the fancy of Prince enthusiasts. That might change soon: Selma producer/director Ava DuVernay is working with Netflix on a Prince documentary, Deadline reports.
Apparently, Prince contacted DuVernay prior to his passing to discuss collaborating, and that is reason enough to believe this will be good. (I also need to know everything that went down in that conversation.)
DuVernay told Deadline, “Prince was a genius and a joy and a jolt to the senses. He was like no other. He shattered every preconceived notion, smashed every boundary, shared everything in his heart through his music. The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care. I’m honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate.”
There’s certainly enough cause for excitement:
In that vein and like DuVernay’s 2016 examination of the racial underpinnings of America’s mass incarnation system 13th, the untitled docu started discretely early this year. That’s almost exactly two years after Prince’s sudden decline and soon afterwards death on the way back from a solo show in Atlanta in 2016.
As part of the development of the film, the estate has granted the ARRAY founder full access to the vast treasure trove of archives recordings and perhaps most immediately important to Prince’s global fanbase, the unreleased material by the prolific musician.
Netflix has yet to announce a release date or title for the documentary.