Christopher Reeve's Kids and 'Super/Man' Filmmakers Discuss Complicated, Complex Doc | Sundance 2024 - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Ian Bonhôte (Co-Director, Producer, Co-Writer), Peter Ettedgui (Co-Director, Writer) and doc subjects Alexandra Reeve Givens, Matthew Reeve, Will Reeve chat with The Hollywood Reporter in Park City during the Sundance film festival about creating a complicated and complex documentary about Christopher Reeve for 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' and being proud of their father's legacy.

Transcript

00:00Growing up, I saw what he was in, but that's not who he was to me.

00:04That's not who he was to us.

00:05He was just dad.

00:07And if he were in some other line of work that's not as public-facing, an accountant

00:12doesn't come home and say, hey, let's take a look through my briefcase and see what

00:15I did at work today.

00:16Peter and I co-directed a film called McQueen and another one, Rising Phoenix.

00:23One was about a biopic about a fashion designer, the late fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen,

00:27and the other one was about the Paralympic movements.

00:30So I think potentially in the mind of the producers, it was a good combination of the two to actually

00:37tell Christopher Reeve's story.

00:39At the time, the finance wasn't raised, so we needed to meet the family, still see, and

00:45we came in with our own company, Misfits Entertainment, and all together we went to the market to actually

00:50try to find the finance.

00:51It was a total no-brainer when we got the call because, I mean, we both grew up with

00:58Christopher Reeve as Superman and with the story of what happened to him after his accident.

01:03And it was a story that we just immediately felt spoke to so many things that interest

01:07us.

01:08And then meeting these three wonderful humans just made us want to engage with this project

01:16even more.

01:17We wanted to tell the highs and the lows to show the public persona and the person that

01:21everybody around the world knew, but then also showed the intimacy of life at home.

01:24But we knew that we would be handing over tapes.

01:27We would agree to be interview subjects.

01:29And beyond that, we were going to be relinquished in control.

01:31And so finding people that we could trust with that story who were going to do it justice really

01:35mattered.

01:36And I think back to when the three of us saw a rough cut months ago, I think our first and

01:42major note had to do with, you can go harder on him there.

01:47You can be more accurate here.

01:48We wanted it to be real, whatever that was.

01:51And because this is the story of a human being, it is complicated and complex and at times messy

01:59and ultimately inspiring and moving.

02:01But we wanted the project to holistically show who our dad was.

02:07So there were times where we said, no, you could drill down further there.

02:11That's fine.

02:12We want the real story because we're proud of every single bit of it.

02:16Christopher Reeve was one of the good guys and he remained with people.

02:20Or he is one of the good guys.

02:21And I think that's one of the things that was really important in this film.

02:24There's a lot of things that have come out from this period and era, but they were some

02:28really good people.

02:29We're always proud when people are interested in him and his legacy, both in terms of the

02:33Superman story, but also, of course, his legacy as a disability rights advocate.

02:37And so we are deeply involved in the work of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

02:40We all sit on the board.

02:42We do work for them.

02:44And that really has been a beautiful, ongoing story that the investments in medical research

02:48have paid off, that the advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities, not to have caps

02:53on insurance paid off.

02:55Dad didn't get to see all of that payoff, but we get to see it now.

02:58And we get to see all of the amazing community carrying on his legacy.

03:02And that makes us incredibly proud.

03:04Growing up, I saw what he was in, but that's not who he was to me.

03:09That's not who he was to us.

03:10He was just dad.

03:11And if he were in some other line of work that's not as public-facing, an accountant

03:16doesn't come home and say, hey, let's take a look through my briefcase and see what I

03:19did at work today.

03:21They're dad, right?

03:23And so that's how our relationship was with him as well.

03:26And he wasn't at all intoxicated by his name or his fame as dad.

03:32He was just dad.

03:33I will say, though, the favorite thing of mine that my dad ever did was a documentary.

03:38It was the last thing he ever filmed before his accident.

03:42It was so perfectly him.

03:46He followed the gray whales of the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Strait down to Baja, Mexico,

03:53in an airplane, on boats, in scuba gear.

03:57And it's just an hour of him at his most pure.

04:01He's quirky and enthusiastic and a little dorky and also really adventurous and super cool

04:07because he's flying a plane and doing all this stuff.

04:10And that's the piece of his that I always come back to if I want to connect with my dad

04:16and spend time with the man I knew.

04:19He wasn't Superman.

04:20That was a role he played.

04:21But to us, he was a hero in a different way.

04:22He, she, she wasn't superhero in a different way.

04:24You

Christopher Reeve's Kids and 'Super/Man' Filmmakers Discuss Complicated, Complex Doc | Sundance 2024

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