THE FAMILY OF British singer Amy Winehouse have condemned a forthcoming documentary about her life as “misleading”.
Due to premiere at the Cannes film festival next month, “Amy” traces Winehouse’s story from her early career to the fame she won with hits such as “Rehab”, until her death aged 27 in 2011 from alcohol poisoning.
A spokesman for the Winehouse family said they “would like to disassociate themselves from the forthcoming film about their much missed and beloved Amy”.
“They feel that the film is a missed opportunity to celebrate her life and talent and that it is both misleading and contains some basic untruths,” the spokesman said in a statement.
There are specific allegations made against family and management that are unfounded and unbalanced.
The family did not make clear what allegations they objected to.
Speaking to The Sun, Winehouse’s father Mitch said he “felt sick” the first time he watched the film.
I am painted as being an absent father during her last years. It gives the impression the family weren’t there.
He added that the family are taking legal advice on blocking the film’s release.
The documentary is directed by Asif Kapadia, whose film “Senna” about the Brazilian Formula 1 driver won a British Academy Film Award for best documentary in 2011.
In a statement, the team behind the “Amy” defended their work.
“When we were approached to make the film, we came on board with the full backing of the Winehouse family and we approached the project with total objectivity, as with Senna,” the filmmakers said.
We conducted in the region of 100 interviews with people that knew Amy Winehouse: friends, family, former-partners and members of the music industry that worked with her.
“The story that the film tells is a reflection of our findings from these interviews.”
- © AFP, 2015, additional reporting by Nicky Ryan.
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