The Velvet Underground Documentary Trailer Released
The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film by Todd Haynes, the long-awaited documentary about Lou Reed‘s influential New York band will premiere on 15 October on Apple TV+. The trailer has been made available to watch now.
The film features in-depth interviews with the key players of that time combined with a treasure trove of never-before-seen performances and a rich collection of recordings, Warhol films, and other experimental art that creates an immersive experience into what founding member John Cale describes as the band’s creative ethos: “how to be elegant and how to be brutal.”
The documentary is the latest from Academy Award-nominated director Todd Haynes (Carol, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There) and will be released by Polygram Entertainment, produced by Motto Pictures and Killer Films in association with Federal Films.
An Apple TV+ statement said: “The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock ’n’ roll’s most revered bands. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Todd Haynes, The Velvet Underground shows just how the group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions: the band is both of their time, yet timeless; literary yet realistic; rooted in high art and street culture.”
On the same day that the film begins showing, an accompanying soundtrack will be released, featuring “both well known and rare Velvet Underground tracks,” according to a press release. Todd Haynes and music supervisor Randall Poster curated the soundtrack.
The film will be released hot on the heels of I’ll Be Your Mirror, an album-length tribute to the band’s 1967 album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, due for release on 24 September. The star-studded tracklist includes Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Courtney Barnett, the National’s Matt Berninger, Sharon Van Etten with Angel Olsen, Thurston Moore and Bobby Gillespie, and Fontaines DC. The album was executive produced by the late Hal Willner, marking the last LP he worked on before his death in 2020.