AMERICAN SYMPHONY
SAT, 12/2, 100 min, follows the Pennebaker Award presentation BAY STREET THEATER
Director: Matthew Heineman
Producers: Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
Editors: Sammy Dane, Matthew Heineman, JIm Hession, Fernando Villegas
Cinematographers: Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, Clair Popkin, Thorsten Thielow
Matt Heineman’s latest film, AmericanSymphony, takes him in new directions. His focus? Jon Batiste, a well-known former bandleader and musical director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with an infectious personality that wins over fans. Batiste formed the band Stay Human in the mid-’00s, which brought their brand of R&B and jazz to the streets of NYC. Batiste has played in concert halls, won an Oscar for his score to PIxar’s Soul, and his album We Are received 11 Grammy nominations and won Album of the Year in 2022. But there’s another side to his life that is not joyful. Last year his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, discovered her rare form of leukemia had returned after 10 years in remission. American Symphony follows Batiste as he prepares his original musical composition for its premiere at Carnegie Hall and as he supports Jaouad as she undergoes medical treatment. In September 2023, the film was acquired by Netflix and the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground. Barack and Michelle Obama said of the documentary, “Jon and Suleika’s journey of grace and strength echoes the experience of so many families who are forced to navigate the complications that surface when dreams meet adversity.” And Clayton Davis of Variety hailed the film as “quite possibly one of the best love stories seen on film in over two decades.”