The legacy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their 18 months in Greenwich Village in the USA is captured in the new documentary “One to One: John and Yoko”.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the film is set in New York in 1971 and 1972 as Lennon prepares for his One to One benefit concert for children with special needs. The iconic performance, which took place on August 30, 1972, was Lennon’s only full concert between the Beatles’ final show in 1966 and his death in 1980. One to One includes previously unreleased home videos of Lennon and Ono, as well as archived private phone conversations and photographs.
The cult couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, is also involved as a music producer.
The official logline reads: “Set in New York City in 1972, the film explores John and Yoko’s musical, personal, artistic, social and political worlds against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history. While much of the film revolves around the One to One concert, it extensively examines the state of pop culture during that time as a whole.”
Director McDonald had already announced that he would be making an Elvis Presley biopic and later a Whitney Houston documentary. Now McDonald finally has his musical moment with the late Beatle.
Sam Rice-Edwards is co-director and editor alongside McDonald. McDonald produced the documentary together with Alice Webb and Peter Worsley.
Executive producers include Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Marc Robinson, David Joseph and Steve Condie.
The film will premiere in Venice and later be shown at the Telluride Film Festival.
Director McDonald said in a press release that the documentary was intended to highlight Lennon and Ono as themselves, rather than taking a more biographical approach with interviews.
“It’s during this period around the concert that John and Yoko are most often on camera: They either had their own cameras or other people were filming,” McDonald said. “I thought, ‘There’s enough here to just let them speak for themselves, let the audience listen to them, and let that be the fun of the film.’ I think that’s much more interesting than a traditional biopic, where the filmmakers are trying to present a very coherent version of things.”
Premiere of “One to One: John and Yoko.” Watch the teaser below.
