Magnolia Pictures has released the first trailer for Zappa, the forthcoming documentary that explores Frank Zappa‘s iconoclastic life in a way nobody has seen before. Bill and Ted co-star Alex Winter directed the documentary, which will see a video-on-demand release on November 27th.
As the first documentary made with the approval and cooperation of the Zappa estate, Winter and Magnolia Pictures had near-unlimited access to source material and archival footage. Zappa will explore everything from the musician’s unique music and stage presence to his inclinations towards political activism. It will touch upon his entire career, from his self-taught roots and time with Mothers of Invention, to his conflict with the Parents Music Resource Center and their pushes for music censorship.
“Frank embodied everything,” said Mothers of Invention percussionist Ruth Underwood in the trailer. “You couldn’t say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s rock n’ roll.’ It wasn’t. ‘It’s jazz.’ No. ‘It’s pop music.’ No. ‘What the hell is it?’ It’s Zappa.”
Ahmet Zappa, Frank’s son and estate trustee, told Rolling Stone ahead of the film’s originally planned release at SXSW, “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. It’s quite unbelievable what Alex has achieved. This is the definitive Frank Zappa documentary.”
Winter, who also recently produced the HBO documentary Showbiz Kids, told Rolling Stone, “It’s not your standard 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. 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.”
Check out the first trailer for Zappa below and click here for the latest updates ahead of the film’s release.
Zappa – Official Trailer
[Video: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing]
[H/T Rolling Stone]