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Frank Zappa documentary explores the “private life” of the musical iconoclast

“This film is by far the most intimate and expansive look into the innovative life of Frank Zappa

Image: Magnolia Pictures via YouTube

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The official trailer for Zappa, the Alex Winter-directed documentary on musical iconoclast Frank Zappa, has been released.

Zappa will feature narration from the late legend himself, never-before-seen home videos, live footage and interviews taken from private archives. The film was made with full authorisation from the Zappa Family Trust, which manages the rights to Frank Zappa’s artistic products, as well as his commercial image.

The flick was scheduled to premiere at the now-cancelled SXSW Festival; it’s now slated for a 27 November release.

Ahmet Zappa, Frank’s third child, spoke about the film back in January, calling it the “definitive” feature on his father’s life.

“This film is by far the most intimate and expansive look into the innovative life of Frank Zappa, narrated by Frank in his own words,” he told Rolling Stone. “It’s quite unbelievable what Alex has achieved.”

On the upcoming feature, director Winter told fans not to expect an “album-to-album music doc”.

“It’s really an in-depth examination of an artist’s life, using mostly Zappa’s own words and media from his personal archives,” he said. “The film is filled with surprises for fans, but I think they will be most struck by the intimacy and a real sense of who Zappa actually was.”

Zappa was crowdfunded via a Kickstarter campaign which amassed over $1,200,000 from 8,000 backers in 30 days.

Back in June, a box set commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Mothers (Of Invention) 1970s line-up was released. It included an early version of Sharleena, mixed by famed Queen producer, Roy Thomas Baker from early in his career.

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