In the world of documentary filmmaking, projects are often born from a deep passion or a desire to right an injustice. But for Kevin Macdonald, the renowned filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning One Day in September and the thrilling Black Sea, his journey into the life of Whitney Houston was anything but typical. What began with a surprising indifference transformed into an emotional and enlightening exploration of one of music's most iconic voices.
Kevin Macdonald, speaking in an exclusive interview, shared how the documentary came to be. “It was kind of an unusual process,” he admitted. “I wasn’t a massive Whitney Houston fan before. Sure, I liked some of her songs, but like many of my generation, if you wanted to be considered cool in the '80s, you didn’t listen to Whitney Houston—though you might have sneakily enjoyed it when no one was around.”
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Kevin acknowledges that he initially lost sympathy for Whitney during the latter part of her career, partly due to her public struggles with addiction and her frequent appearances in tabloids. However, it was a conversation with her agent, Nicole David, that sparked his interest in creating the documentary.
“She was the one who convinced me that it was a film worth making,” Kevin explained. “She said, ‘I loved Whitney Houston more than anybody else I ever represented, and I never understood her. And I feel really bad that I don’t understand her, and, in a way, I want to know who she was.’ That was so intriguing to me as a filmmaker — that kind of invitation — and also the enigma and mystery of that. So, I started off kind of unsympathetic to her in some ways, and I think by the end of the process, I really fell in love with her. She truly is one of the greatest singing artists in the second half of the 20th Century, and she should be acknowledged as such.”
Creating a Sympathetic Portrait
Even with his newfound appreciation for Whitney Houston, painting a sympathetic picture of someone who seemed to have it all yet threw it away was no easy task. The public often perceived her as someone who had sabotaged her own life, indulging in drug use that ultimately led to her tragic death.
