Asif Kapadia
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“The Tapes were Sticking Together When I Found Them”: Asif Kapadia on Diego Maradona, Digitizing U-Matic and Mindhunter
The greatest soccer player of his time, Diego Maradona was also the sport’s highest-paid athlete until he was forced out of competition due to his criminal connections and substance abuse problems. Director Asif Kapadia built the HBO Sports release Diego Maradona from over 500 hours of archival footage, much of it never seen by the public. After a theatrical run for Oscar consideration, Diego Maradona is now screening on HBO. The documentary focuses on Maradona’s years in Naples, where he led the Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli team to its first league championship. A native of Argentina, Maradona also played in […]
by Daniel Eagan on Oct 2, 2019 -
The Origins and Challenges of Cartel Land, Amy, What Happened, Miss Simone? and Winter on Fire
Few festivals do a better job of rounding up the year’s most enticing documentaries than the always charming Savannah Film Festival. During its 18th edition last fall, the festival — largely curated by publicist Steven Wilson and entertainment reporter Scott Feinberg on behalf of the Savannah College of Art and Design — brought many of the leading lights in documentary filmmaking to the northeastern corner of Georgia for its second annual “Docs to Watch” sidebar. The culmination of the program is a panel, moderated by Feinberg, that includes a smorgasbord of directors whose movies will figure prominently in the award season races to […]
by Brandon Harris on Feb 22, 2016 -
Jazzed: Asif Kapadia’s Amy
When it came to music, Amy Winehouse forcefully played dual roles, as much master as slave. She had a tough time separating the two. As a young teen in the barely middle-class Southgate section of London, she was under strict instructions from older brother Alex, who constantly played music in his room, never to enter without knocking. Otherwise, she said, “He would throw things at you.” One time, however, she could not stop herself, and stormed in without permission. Dumbfounded, he imagined an emergency. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to his record player. “It’s Ray Charles,” he answered. “’Unchain My […]
by Howard Feinstein on Jul 6, 2015 -
Towards the Palme d’Or: A Conversation with DP Gökhan Tiryaki On the Set of Asif Kapadia’s Ali and Nino
When you have one of the most anticipated films of the year about to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, how do you prepare? For Asif Kapadia — director of Amy, the forthcoming documentary about the British jazz singer Amy Winehouse — the answer is to direct another film. His adaptation of Kurban Said’s 1937 novel Ali and Nino is the first fictional narrative the British director has helmed since 2007’s Far North; both it and Amy are his first features since 2010’s much-admired documentary Senna. For his fictional narratives, Kapadia has made a habit of shooting in remote, unique locations. […]
by Kaleem Aftab on May 13, 2015 -
Asif Kapadia and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) Document Guantanamo Force-feeding Procedure
Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) submits himself to the force feeding procedure hunger-striking Guantanamo Bay prisoners are currently undergoing twice a day in this painful short video by Senna director Asif Kapadia. As Ben Ferguson describes in The Guardian, the video was directed using the testimony of a hunger striker, Samir Mokbel, provided by the prisoners’ rights organization Reprieve: There was no rehearsal: after all, no acting would be required. He swapped his black leather jacket, jeans and designer shoes for an orange jumpsuit. In an instant, he was no longer Mos Def – rapper and Hollywood star – but a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 9, 2013 -
“SENNA” | director, Asif Kapadia
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, Jan. 21, 6:00 pm — Holiday Village Cinema IV] The biggest surprise with Senna has been the reaction from audiences who have never heard of Ayrton Senna before: people who have no interest in sports, who literally run from the house if motor racing is on. I wanted our film to appeal to exactly those people, but to actually have them respond in such a positive way has been wonderful. Friends of mine, who detest sport of all kinds, who couldn’t understand why I wanted to make this film, have been in touch after seeing Senna and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2011
