New Delhi: Oscar nominee Irene Taylor says she was a bit nervous when she was asked to make a documentary on a popular personality like Celine Dion, but agreed to it after knowing the singer personally.
The 1.42-hour-long documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” is a poignant portrayal about an era-defining musician battling a rare autoimmune neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome. It began streaming on Prime Video on Tuesday.
The filmmaker said he didn’t decide to direct the film until he felt a fondness for Dion. Taylor is best known for the Academy Award-nominated “The Final Inch,” about the global effort to eradicate polio, and “Here and Now,” a documentary memoir about his deaf parents as they undergo a complex transplant surgery.
“I was kind of nervous because I’ve never made a film about a celebrity before. I didn’t have any particular motivation to do it. I thought, ‘What am I going to do? Just go on tour with him? Is that interesting? I don’t really know’.
“But I knew I really liked her because I knew her and I had a feeling she would be authentic with me. So, I agreed to do the film,” Taylor said in an interview to PTI.
According to producers, “I Am: Celine Dion” is a true and honest story of the iconic superstar’s struggle with a life-altering illness that has impacted her singing.
Dion, who is the voice behind the powerful songs “My Heart Will Go On”, “That’s the Way It Is”, “The Power of Love” and “I’m Alive”, was unwell when she began filming for the documentary. And this was something the singer and her management team shared with Taylor right before shooting began.
“Shortly before filming began, his management and Celine herself told me he was ill. They didn’t know what the problem was, but they were trying to get to the bottom of it.
“It became even more clear when I was told that I won’t be going on tour with her. Maybe I will go, but if I go she will fall sick. The film is not just about the illness, it is about many other things. But I knew this would help me concentrate,” she added.
The director recalled that something changed in the Las Vegas-based singer after she announced her diagnosis in a social media post in December 2022.
In a tearful video on Instagram, Dion had told fans and followers that she is suffering from SPS and has cancelled her European tour scheduled for February 2023.
“I noticed a bit of a change in Celine when she posted on Instagram… that was about a year and a half ago. When we were shooting the movie, there was what I call the era before the Instagram post and the era after the Instagram post,” Taylor said.
The filmmaker said the 56-year-old singer made the revelation on social media because she was “ridden with guilt over lying.”
“She felt like she was lying. Now, that’s a very strong word and you can debate whether it’s right to use it or not, but what happened was that she felt very slighted.
“In the film she says, ‘The lie has become too heavy now’. When she told the world, she got a lot of respect. But a lot happened in her life and the film after she posted it. So, our work is not done yet.”
For Taylor, “I Am: Celine Dion” gradually became an experience about a woman she was getting to know and whom she was sharing with the audience.
“She didn’t perform as ‘Celine Dion.’ She performed as a woman named Celine who grew up in French Canada and now lives in Las Vegas with her kids.
“She has her own habits, she likes to vacuum, she makes her own coffee, she cooks her own meals. She was someone I could relate to. So, I tried to share the woman I was getting to know with my audience,” she added.
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