Billie Holiday is one of the most iconic and influential singers of all time. However, she was also one of the most tragic, as her life was cut short due to years of being addicted to hard drugs. But as seen in the upcoming documentary, “Billie,” Holiday’s music and legacy remain intact in the eyes of some of the greatest musicians of all time.
The trailer for “Billie” leans heavily on one of the most startling aspects of the documentary, the fact that the footage of Holiday’s performances from the ‘30s and ‘40s have been painstakingly colorized. This results in seeing the performer in a brand-new way. Of course, the film itself does more than just show beautiful archival footage. “Billie” is also the result of 200 hours of never-before-heard interviews with folks such as Linda Lipnak Kuehl, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Sylvia Syms, and Charles Mingus, detailing the importance of the late singer’s work. The interviews were originally compiled for an unproduced novel by Kuehl.
“Billie” is directed by James Erskine. The film is expected to arrive in select theaters and virtual cinemas on November 13. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
Billie Holiday had one of the greatest voices of all time. She was a woman of breath-taking talent and global popularity while also stirring controversy. She started a notable rebellion singing “Strange Fruit” which exposed the realities of Black life in America and earned her powerful enemies. Then in the late 1960’s journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie. Over the next decade, she tracked down and tape-recorded interviews with the extraordinary characters that populated the iconic singer’s short, tumultuous life. These incredibly intimate testimonies are not only told by some of the musical greats, but Billie Holiday herself is revealed through the eyes of her cousin, her school friends, lovers, lawyers, pimps and even the FBI agents who arrested her. Linda’s book was never finished and the tapes unplayed – until now. With unprecedented and exclusive access to Linda’s astonishing 200 hours of never-before-heard interviews, BILLIE showcases an American legend, capturing her depths and complexity through the voices of those who knew her best. Painstakingly restored with footage and stills colorized by one of the leading color artists, it is an arresting and powerful tale of one of the greatest singers who ever lived, and of Linda Lipnack Kuehl, the woman who would sacrifice her life in trying to tell it.