The long-awaited documentary study of the musical maverick gets a US release in November.
Alex Winter’s documentary about Frank Zappa – imaginatively titled Zappa – has been in production seemingly forever, but it has finally been finished and is in US theatres and on-demand on November 27th. Collated from the vast amount of footage in the Zappa family archives (Frank was nothing if not thorough in recording his work) and with new interviews from those close to him, the film promises to be the definitive statement of the great man’s career. Well, almost. Notably absent from the names listed in the film’s interviewees are Zappa’s children Moon Unit and Dweezil, both of whom are estranged from the family thanks to a genuinely divisive situation put in place by Zappa’s late wife Gail, who granted unequal ownership of the archives to the four kids, effectively putting the younger two in full control. While the current situation regarding Zappa’s legacy might not be entirely relevant to this story (though there is certainly a fascinating documentary to be made about the whole sordid story), the absence of the two kids who were Frank’s most significant family musical collaborators suggests that the story might be a touch incomplete.
But we wait and see. We’re very much looking forward to seeing this in any case, in only for the huge wealth of rare footage and fantastic archive interviews. Here’s the new trailer to give you a taste of what to expect.
