senna ( film )
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( from ep. 323 )
gulf film, the local distributor for universal pictures, said it was not going to release the film about the life of ayrton senna this year .
but prost remains deeply unhappy about the balance of the senna film and in particular the closing moments .
“senna – review”. urltoken. the guardian. http: / / www. urltoken / film / 2011 / jun / 02 / senna - film - review. retrieved 2011 - 06 - 05 .
but prost, who co - operated on the award winning film
senna
, is unhappy that his subsequent reconciliation with senna is not featured .
asif kapadia, the director of the documentary
senna ,
narrates a racing scene from the film .
i finally got around to seeing senna, the critically acclaimed, must - see film for f1 fans .
the film celebrating the life of the legendary ayrton senna is due to be released in cinemas this autumn .
the film then documents senna' s funeral, and the pain felt by both brazilians and those involved in f1 .
senna has been recognised by the british film making establishment with three bafta award nominations. it will be in contention in the outstanding british film, best documentary and best editing ...
a new film about racing legend ayrton senna puts you in the cockpit with him. asif kapadia explains how he did it
this is the first film about ayrton senna that had the approval and support of his family and also the organization of formula one management, which gave unprecedented images of senna .
senna is a documentary about the life and career of the late brazilian formula one world champion ayrton senna .
these steps are crucial in making the film accessible to a mainstream audience that may not be as familiar with formula 1, and no doubt this was a factor in the film scooping the best documentary award at the sundance film festival, one of many accolades senna has already earned .
the film senna pulls off the hard trick of combining journalism with creativity. in the scenes where he wins the brazilian grand prix for the first time we observe the closest thing to an epiphany ever captured in film about sport .
prost was at times openly hostile towards senna. for his part, senna cared only for the driving – and the winning .
senna film will get a july release date in the us. @ asifkapadia has just got off the phone with the ny distribution team. whoop !
to read our exclusive interview with the film’s director, asif kapadia, click here .
the edinburgh international film festival (eiff to its friends and those who ...
a record number of submissions for the best foreign language film oscar have ...
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( from ep. 489 )
senna is a 2010 documentary film that depicts the life and death of brazilian motor - racing champion, ayrton senna. it is asif kapadia’s fourth feature film as director, and is produced by espn / working title and distributed by universal pictures / walt disney pictures. it has received great critical acclaim .
the film solely uses archive racing footage and home videos from the senna family. it is not formally narrated, and does not contain retrospective video interviews .
members of the richard’s f1 team have been fortunate enough to attend a private screening of the film in sydney before its national release, along with the opportunity to interview the film’s director, asif kapadia, on the eve of the film’s vip premiere tonight in melbourne .
this, as jeremy pointed out in that epic senna tribute from series 15, was why the world watched in awe at a real - life driving god, and it’s why we are very excited by this: a japanese trailer for the upcoming film on ayrton senna, cannily titled “senna” .
the film has just been released in the uk by altitude. i spoke with their head of distribution, hamish moseley, to get his take on the film’s release and reception .
bad photoshop alert: the first poster for new nicolas cage film, stolen ...
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( from ep. 515 )
aftr his move to williams, the 1994 san marino grand prix is strongly focused on. the film shows the effects on senna from rubens barrichello' s accident, and the emotional pain he feels after roland ratzenberger is killed. the film then documents senna' s own crash and resultant death and the global reaction .
the british film director asif kapadia has been a workshop leader at nuff in 2008. when he was visiting tromsø international film festival presenting his film ”far north”, he showed up at the annual nuff @ tiff reception and showed his interests to be part of nuff. though we could sign him already for nuff 2008. in occasion of the nuff’s 10th anniversary we are to have asif as a guest of honour presenting his recent film success senna .
a moving documentary charting the remarkable story of legendary brazilian motor - racing champion ayrton senna. spanning senna’s years as a formula 1 driver, the film uses only archival footage to follow his rise to fame and his tragic death at the age of 34. winner of the world cinema audience award for documentary at sundance film festival 2011 .
despite the film’s stellar reviews, amy’s father has said that it’s misleading and contains basic untruths. there’s now talk of him creating his own film to correct omissions. what’s your take on this ?
senna received critical acclaim, scoring 92% on rotten tomatoes, with most reviewers awarding the film 4 or 5 stars. it was nominated for seven awards, winning six .
my wife was head of development at working title at the time, and she' d made a film with james many years earlier. she said if you want to make a film about senna you should talk to my husband, because he really knows about him .
mohammed al jneibi, a motorsport fan, has consistently raised the issue of the film on twitter .
while it could be argued that these incidents may not be significant enough in the context of some of the other footage the audience is shown in senna, including either of these incidents would no doubt have helped further balance the film’s presentation of the senna character. some fans (although not us) may feel that the film could feel a little one - eyed in its praise of this very complex – and certainly flawed – tragic hero of the film .
formula one legend alain prost has just
one big regret
- - his portrayal in an award winning film about his arch rival - - the late, great ayrton senna .
will buxton on twitter :
senna film will get a july release date in the us. @ asifkapadia has just got off the phone with the ny distribution team. whoop !
, his film about a racer' s dream to win the indianapolis 500. john frankenheimer, who directed
but the clip was muffled and unusable in the context of the end of the film, he claimed .
“senna (2011) ”. urltoken. rotten tomatoes. http: / / www. urltoken / m / senna /. retrieved 2011 - 06 - 05 .
the film also revisits the bitter competition between senna and alain prost, the reigning french champion. it developed into a “war, ” in which jean - marie balestre, then the president of the fédération internationale de sport automobile, sided with prost. after senna and prost collided at the 1989 japanese grand prix, senna was disqualified and suspended; when he protested the decision, he was fined. the film, sympathetic to senna’s side of the story, explores a decision that casts mr. balestre (who died in 2008) as the villain .
if you’ve haven’t seen the film, or even if you have, i strongly encourage you to support a fine film and film maker, one whose interest in story and subject guides you through the world of international racing and humanity at its extremes. many in our audience felt that with so much going on in the movie, ‘senna’ truly stands up to a second viewing. the film’s us release on blu ray is july 10, and to capture a few highlights from senna’s life and career, i’ve asked paul - henri cahier for permission to share his art around one of his favorite subjects. clickable images will open up each year’s worth of senna in formula 1, please enjoy :
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so what next for senna? already on sale in some countries, the dvd includes an extra 50 minutes of talking heads, which can be viewed separately or inserted at intervals into the film .
key characters were interviewed for the film, including the frenchman alain prost, senna’s greatest rival, a sublime driver but very different from senna. known as the' professor’, prost liked to do just enough to win – if finishing third would win him the championship then he would finish third. he liked to hold something back, which was anathema to senna .
senna’s maverick nature, and the battles it caused, form the thrust of kapadia’s film, and it results in some astonishing moments, such as senna’s devastated reaction to the death of ratzenberger and the hospitalisation of rubens barrichello during that fateful weekend in imola, san marino, which ironically inspired senna to recreate the grand prix drivers’ association to improve track safety, mere hours before his own death. (there hasn’t been an f1 fatality since senna’s. )
senna is not a film about a sporting rivalry, because we would have called it' senna vs prost' and started it later and ended it earlier, if it was. the rivalry was an important element in our story - but it was just one of many .
a film about a film? that’s the premise of a new documentary, but many tales about steve mcqueen and le mans had still to be told. the executive producer, formerly of motor sport, tells us ...
mclaren was the place to be, and, for senna, prost was the driver to beat. when circumstances finally prevailed for ron dennis, the famously dry and chilly supremo of mclaren, to sign senna for the 1988 season, it seemed a perfect partnership.' what you’re looking for is an intellect, ’ dennis says in the film, and senna certainly had that .
earned $ 12, 743 in its lone theater. the only other film in the $ 10, 000 club was
the next james bond film arrives this october in the uk. here' s the poster for skyfall ...
neither the senna family nor bernie ecclestone have ever sanctioned such a project for the cinema before and we have made the film with unprecedented access to fom and the family archive ,
pandey told urltoken .
written by manish pandey, directed by bafta award - winner asif kapadia and produced by working title - the same company behind billy elliot and notting hill - “senna” was made with full co - operation of senna’s family and formula one management, allowing the film - makers unprecedented access to his life .
ayrton senna and alain prost were long - time rivals before they became teammates at mclaren .
senna scriptwriter manish pandey defended prost' s portrayal in the film but admitted it was
very, very diffficult to compress those 10 years (of the f1 legend' s career) into 100 minutes .
following a brief overview of the seasons that followed and the technological domination of the williams cars, the documentary reaches its finale as senna moves to the grove - based team in 1994, before covering the events of that year’s san marino grand prix, which saw senna lose his life. the film concludes with the senna family and his close friends from formula one mourning his loss at his funeral .
its ending is tragically moving, and in spite of many people remembering senna for his death, senna fulfils its remit of giving audience members a greater insight into his life as well .
in the film, both through home videos provided by the senna family and from interviews with people that had known him, senna is presented as sublime, spiritual, on occasion ruthless, as well as private, humble and fiercely patriotic, donating millions to his native brazil and contemplating a life outside motor racing .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
senna
is carefully edited and makes sometimes spectacular use of extensive home movies and videos .
prost and senna formed a united team in 1988 as the latter won the championship for mclaren .
read: fangio vs. senna: who is the greatest formula one driver of all time ?
asif kapadia’s film, although formed entirely from thousands of hours of archived television footage, still manages to achieve a cinematic feel .
“movie review: senna”. urltoken. napiers news. http: / / www. urltoken / 2011 / 06 / movie - review - senna. html. retrieved 2011 - 06 - 05 .
the first documentary feature film about the brazilian,' senna' has been made with the full co - operation of the family and of formula one management - which has provided archive footage to tell the story of his life .
getting this project off the ground and into the cinemas has been a painstaking process to say the least, and it’s been a challenge for the film’s makers to condense cast amounts of archival formula one management footage and interview film into a 106 - minute documentary .
‘senna’ has been circulating around american theaters and streaming on demand since it’s opening last august, and moviegoers have followed the film’s rise in popularity and universal appeal with hundreds of glowing reviews from around the world. since it’s award - winning premiere at sundance, f1 fans and non - f1 fans alike have taken to the film’s narrative approach and dramatic documentary footage. to see ‘senna’ is to watch one of racing’s brightest stars rise with humility and determination in the competitive world of f1 while learning what kind of hero ayrton senna became to his beloved people of brazil .
reports back in 2001 had suggested that a film starring the spanish actor antonio banderas could be produced that would focus on the lead up to the incident at imola where senna lost his life, but those plans never came to fruition .
it maybe that you want to take the film with you when travelling or when you have a quiet moment to watch it. senna vs brundle is available as a download and can be watched offline through the vimeo app on ios .
ayrton senna was his generation' s best grand prix driver. this viscerally exciting documentary does him justice
prost joined a pantheon of formula one greats at senna' s funeral in sao paulo in 1994 .
race fans are disappointed that the award - winning documentary senna will not be released in the uae .
view north american theaters showing senna in a larger map, click here for alaska theater map locations .
prof sid watkins was the head of the f1 medical team for 26 years and is a hugely revered figure in motor racing. the deepest personal relationship he had with any driver, he says, was with senna. they became close when senna was driving for toleman and he treated him for spasms in his neck muscles. after that senna would seek him out for a chat at every race weekend. senna visited watkins’s house in scotland, and watkins went to senna’s farm in brazil and they would fish together .
senna would have to beat hundreds of other films just to get a nomination. but it' s not impossible — gay - rees managed it this year as producer of exit through the gift shop, the first film from artist banksy .
here in san francisco, the f1 group i moderate had been waiting for this film for some time, and while everyone was glad to see it finally arrive, the film’s opening date coincided with the first day of the monterey motorsports reunion, a popular event held just a couple of hours away. since a key audience for the film would not be in town that day, i spoke with electric artists and lobbied for an earlier date ahead of friday with the idea that a coordinated screening would give those going for the weekend a chance to see the film and share the good word. the reviews were in and only made everyone want to see the film that much sooner .
there was only one film to reach the $ 10, 000 mark on the per theater chart, but it did it with style .
senna the film was always going to be a challenge for me. over the years since ayrton’s tragic demise, he has become a legend – national hero of brazil, virtuous man of faith, supernaturally gifted racing driver. as news of the film leaked out and the motoring enthusiast community began reappraised senna, the acclaim has only grown louder. to be a senna fan is a badge of honour for everyone from lewis hamilton via clarkson down to thirtysomethings like me who watched formula one as adolescents in the ‘80s and ‘90s. if you weren' t a senna fan you were doing it wrong. like i apparently did. you see, in spite of the popular surge in support for the late, great ayrton senna, he wasn’t my favourite f1 driver at the time. alain prost was .
senna, furious, with some justification, carried his rage into the next season, where his new teammate was gerhard berger, not really a threat. senna won eight races that season. he and prost were pretty much on equal footing by the japanese grand prix, which was the most controversial of senna’s career .
“senna” is rated pg - 13 (parents strongly cautioned). it has scenes of fatal car crashes .
back in 2010, the bafta - winning senna made the filmgoing world sit up and take ...
there is a reason for all of this, of course: the film was made with the co - operation, and under the watchful eye of, the senna family themselves, and was always going to verge on the hagiographic. if i was making a film about my brother or son i' d be unlikely to want to tell the world about what a git he was .
instead, the film due for release later this year takes on the form of a documentary and will span senna' s f1 career, from his debut in the sport with toleman back in 1984 through to his final, fateful race with williams .
i didn’t like senna much then, and i’m still not a fan now. but after watching senna, i do miss him more. > > are you in the legion of senna fans, or did you have a different favourite f1 driver in the' 80s and' 90s? share your thoughts in the comments section
paul velasco, communications manager at the dubai autodrome, said the decision not to release the film affects a wider audience than just race fans .
altitude’s campaign materials have been adopted by distributors of amy around the world which again has made the film feel like a large - scale blockbuster .
choose your car and put your seat belt on, because you are about to drive through the free website highway of the british film industry .
as they both battled for world titles at mclaren, prost and senna' s relationship came under great strain .
pandey was a rare dedicated senna follower at a time when fanatical mansell - mania dominated every british gp weekend .
senna, the film, strikes with elegiac force and is not alone in modern cinema in augmenting memories that were already safe and deep. lurching out of the dark, the viewer asks why the hot new genre of sports documentaries is so unsettling and effective .
when viewing the film whilst connected to the internet tap on the down arrow in the top right corner of the player to make it available for offline viewing. if the film is in your feed, tap the ellipsis next to the video you want to download and tap “make available offline. ”
the stewards decided it was a' racing incident’, so no action was taken against senna, who later said,' i am not revelling in the fact that i had to do that. ’ in the film, prost says that he wanted to punch him,' but i was so disgusted i couldn’t do it. ’ senna had won his second world championship .
a complete and officially approved film was not the end of the story, however. even with the backing of universal, formulating a worldwide release campaign was not the work of a moment. the film first emerged in japan and brazil late last year, senna - friendly markets which also happened to have conveniently timed grands prix. pandey regrets that it has taken until now to get it out in the uk .
the film takes the form of a journey in three acts – senna’s rise to the top, his struggle to stay there, and his death – focusing particularly on the five years from 1989, and his rivalry with the four - times world champion alain prost .
still awaiting access to the official f1 archive, and keen to get going, pandey and kapadia made a prototype 10 - minute version of the film using home videos and youtube clips. it helped to convince working title' s parent company universal to provisionally green - light the film, pending contracts .
it’s also finally worth noting one other major achievement of kapadia’s film: while senna himself is the subject rather than formula 1, kapadia’s use of race footage — particularly of senna’s own brilliance on the track, best illustrated by the driver’s talent in exploiting wet conditions — will make even those who find motor - racing a noisy bore feel the visceral thrill of high - velocity competition .
he tells senna’s story with respectful honesty, managing to grip the audience from the beginning right to the tragic denouement .
senna is released in australian cinemas from august 11, and worldwide thereafter. check your local listings for more information .
the free website highway of the british film industry. for more information on the filmnav website or enquire about inclusion or advertsing please get in contact: urltoken
you can watch the film on a variety of devices either connected to the internet or offline. the full list can be found on the vimeo connected page .
amy’s father mitch has publicly slated the film, saying it is exploitative and portrays him in a bad light. it’s true that he comes off worst — as someone who loved his daughter but walked out on her, and later sought fame at her expense. but it never feels as if that’s the film’s agenda .
senna vs brundle can be viewed online via the vimeo on demand service. this allows as many racing fans around the world as possible to watch it in the easiest way whenever and wherever they choose to. to watch the film simply use the purchase function on the top right of the video player. the film is produced in 4k (uhd), the resolution streamed can be changed in the lower right corner of the video player .
10 / 18 update: over 360, 000 hits on the google map for theaters showing senna! the map has now been updated and simplified to show now playing, next upcoming date as well as future theater openings. huge congratulations to the film and team at bond strategy and influence (formerly electric artists). check out mashable’s upcoming 2011 awards and vote in senna for ‘best social movie campaign’ .
the focus here falls largely upon the caustic feud between young pretender senna and the more experienced and sometimes calculating alain prost .
the medical team at imola tend to the stricken senna after his fateful crash in the san marino grand prix in 1994 .
the film begins with senna’s arrival into formula one during the 1984 season, briefly covering his time at toleman and lotus before concentrating on his career at mclaren. the documentary concentrates on his time with the british team – namely his rise to global fame – becoming a world champion, his rivalry with his team mate alain prost, and his political struggles with the then head of fisa jean - marie balestre. the film covers the climax of the rivalry during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, when senna and prost were involved in controversial clashes which decided the drivers’ title .
senna’s remarkable story, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he has since attained, is the subject of senna, a documentary feature that spans the racing legend’s years as an f1 driver. far more than a film for f1 fans, senna unfolds a remarkable story in a remarkable manner, eschewing many standard documentary techniques in favour of a more cinematic approach that makes full use of astounding footage, much of which is drawn from f1 archives and previously unseen .
senna took six years to make and the first cut was seven hours long. the final version is 90 minutes, about the length of a grand prix race. it is not a complete biography of senna, more a mosaic of his life .
vroom. “senna, ” asif kapadia’s documentary biography of the brazilian racecar driver ayrton senna, a three - time formula one world champion, virtually puts you in the lap of its subject as he hurtles like a speeding bullet along the fastest tracks .
it begins with ayrton senna' s journey to england and his races in formula one' s feeder formulae, before his début at the 1984 brazilian grand prix for toleman. senna' s impressive second place at the monaco grand prix next shown .
we open with very grainy footage of senna’s first international kart meeting in 1978, before we’re rapidly transported to his breakthrough near - win in teeming conditions at the monaco grand prix, the first f1 race where the senna name truly shot to prominence .
continued its run of special engagements this past weekend earning $ 25, 800 in one theater. the only other film to reach the $ 10, 000 mark was
balancing this, there are equally humorous moments in the film, and some fascinating anecdotes that help shape the audience’s perception of this very driven and intensely spiritual man .
the film is two things: a discreet hagiography of the handsome, soft - spoken senna, who was only 34 when he died in a 1994 crash at the san marino grand prix in italy, and a compressed, esoteric slice of formula one history during his 10 - year ascendance .
more importantly, it gave kapadia the idea that the full - length film could be made with only original footage and without either talking heads or a narrator. instead senna would tell the story himself, backed by soundbites from unseen interviewees. in filmmaking terms, it was a bold step .
he has been very engaged with the distribution process throughout. we first started talking to asif and producer james gay - rees about 18 months ago, when we were formulating our plans for the release and we worked closely together to work out how we wanted the film to be presented. for example, asif was very clear that we did everything we could to avoid the film being compared with the film the 27 club, which we all agreed was insensitive and not something we wanted to propagate .
senna was widely acclaimed by critics, with a 92% fresh critical consensus on rotten tomatoes as of november 2011. dan jolin of empire magazine gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and stated that it is
ambitiously constructed, deeply compelling, thrilling and in no way only for those who like watching cars drive in circles
. daniel sarath from the online blog napier' s news gave the film 5 stars and called it
a flawless work of cinema that showcases documentary filmmaking at its most exciting
. alex zane from the sun gave the film 4 out of 5 and wrote that senna is
fascinating and profoundly moving
. steve rose, writing in the guardian, also gave the film a 4 out of 5, and praised the fact that
with so much recorded footage of formula one available, it has been possible to fashion senna' s story as a live action drama rather than a posthumous documentary. we' re not so much hearing what happened in the past as seeing it happen before our eyes .
over lunch in the langham hotel in london, the twinkly 82 - year - old doctor, known as prof, tells me about senna. about the time when senna offered him $ 25, 000 to eat a whole chilli but prof was having none of it because he knew that the last person senna had made that bet with had to have a colonoscopy as a result .
senna was universally acclaimed by critics, with a 92% fresh critical consensus on rotten tomatoes as of november 2011. [ 3 ] dan jolin of empire magazine gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and stated that it is “ambitiously constructed, deeply compelling, thrilling and in no way only for those who like watching cars drive in circles”. [ 4 ] daniel sarath from the online blog napier’s news gave the film 5 stars and called it “a flawless work of cinema that showcases documentary filmmaking at its most exciting”. [ 5 ] alex zane from the sun gave the film 4 out of 5 and wrote that senna is “fascinating and profoundly moving”. [ 6 ] steve rose, writing in the guardian, also gave the film a 4 out of 5, and praised the fact that “with so much recorded footage of formula one available, it has been possible to fashion senna’s story as a live action drama rather than a posthumous documentary. we’re not so much hearing what happened in the past as seeing it happen before our eyes. ” [ 7 ]
i had serious reservations about this film. we all know the tragic end to amy winehouse’s story — and how the intense media scrutiny she came under played its part .
in spite of excellent work editing period video footage and voiceovers together for senna it still doesn’t feel that way to me now. in truth the film is lacking in the kind of depth an f1 geek would like to see in more detail – three pro - senna f1 commentators propel the narrative, and a supporting cast of family and friends share their largely uncritical views. i would have been happy to have some of the conventional documentary ‘talking head’ interviews from a wider range of people. but of course i would, since i’m not a senna fan .
richard williams thinks that schumacher learnt a lot from senna.' senna’s ruthlessness was kind of hot - blooded, and the way that was accepted made it possible for schumacher to go further in cold blood. everything senna did was in the heat of battle, so in that sense it’s excusable – but it introduced a whole layer of behaviour into the sport that hadn’t been there before. ’
having started in 13th position on the grid, senna had moved up to second by lap 20, 30 seconds behind the race leader, prost. it rained, and senna caught prost, but the race was abandoned for safety reasons. senna might as well have won in the minds of the public. he had shown his true credentials – that he could always rise above the car’s limitations .
blog: my father always held a slightly controversial view of ayrton senna:' nasty piece of work. never liked him.'
there is much to cover about senna’s character and his well - publicised work aiding his poverty - stricken brazilian compatriots – and this is well - covered here – but the crux of the film is his intense and bitter rivalry with alain prost, which started in 1988 and boiled over over the following years .
kapadia and the film’s writer, manish pandey, know that merely declaring how special their subject was is the stuff of ordinary hagiography. instead, they set about proving it .
mobile or tablet native app: vimeo offers a native app for apple ios and android. once installed you can log in with your vimeo user id and watch the film .
my main bugbear, on top of this, is the film' s treatment of alain prost. my girlfriend, hitherto unaware of the existence of the frenchman, left the showing labouring under the apprehension that he wasn' t the nicest of men. if prost himself was to watch the film it would probably made him choke on his popcorn .
pandey presented his first treatment to gay - rees in 2004. two ingredients were essential: permission from the senna family, and the endorsement of bernie ecclestone, the formula one supremo. in 2006 they got the green light from viviane, senna’s sister. for years the family had been besieged by people wanting to make films about senna, but they were uniquely impressed by pandey and gay - rees .
there was one more bridge to cross — without permission from ecclestone to use official race footage, there could be no film. the team met him in london in may 2006 .
for the first time since there will be blood, there' s a new paul thomas anderson film out this year. here' s the trailer for the master ...
f1 didn’t slow down quite as much this august thanks to the opening of senna across the united states. the agency promoting the film, electric artists, has been working feverishly to connect with different communities, networks, and groups across the country through a network of volunteers and event organizers, and the results have been impressive. the film opens in over 50 us cities in the coming month, with several groups and car clubs organizing events, fundraisers and gatherings around the screenings in their city .
what makes this film especially compelling is the flawless editing orchestrated by director asif kapadia. together with screenplay writer manish pandey, they integrate endless hours of archival footage to construct a narrative that resonates and never breaks away from the momentum essential to the sport of driving - - and mimics senna' s relentless racing style .
to the people of brazil, ayrton senna was regarded as a god. to the other drivers he was, at times, unbeatable .
a documentary on brazilian formula one racing driver ayrton senna, who won the f1 world championship three times before his death at age 34 .
first senna, now amy – asif kapadia has established himself as the king of british documentaries. what’s it like to work with asif ?
the brilliantly edited film is based entirely on footage drawn from hundreds of hours of newsreel, material from formula one' s own archives, much of it previously unseen, and from the senna family' s home movies. there are no re - enactments or talking heads looking back over the career. but there are newly recorded voiced contributions by journalists and professional collaborators that are included over contemporary footage from the 70s, 80s and 90s. only in a very general sense is the film a biography .
' i didn’t want to make a film with lots of people telling their story to camera – every one of these guys has been interviewed thousands of times, and the one person i couldn’t interview was ayrton, ’ kapadia says. the call was made very early on:' only if we can show the footage will we put it in the film. ’
so i met james in october 2004. i said you can' t just make a film about the death of senna. it misses the point of him. if you really knew what this guy was in life, you' d see it. if you want to do something do his life and death .
senna is a feature film that happens to have a non - fiction subject matter. it' s also a bona fide work of art, and stands to be judged as a major movie - going experience in its own right. it' s the first documentary from the uk' s top film production company and was made by a team of people well versed in fictional movies, who know how to tell a story — and make it appeal to people with little or no interest in motor racing .
no one has died in f1 racing since that fateful weekend and it provided the producers of the movie with a chilling conclusion which left many film goers in tears as they left cinemas .
he told cnn :
alain (prost) was very kind in giving us time and we put seven examples of reconciliation between him and ayrton at the end of the film .
personal computer: on a mac, windows or linux pc, the film can be viewed using an internet browser by navigating to this web page or on the vimeo on demand page .
putting this two - time bafta winning documentary together was director asif kapadia, a native of great britain, who on a trip to california visited our local f1 community in san francisco to attend the film’s opening at a packed theater. we spoke over dinner before he took questions from a riveted audience later that evening and he mentioned several times in our conversation the idea that this film had what he called ‘senna moments’ – times throughout the project where things just came together through the kindness or unexpected help of others .
in his book the death of ayrton senna richard williams notes that such complexity of character and technical skill rarely co - exist within a single human being. as a driver, senna’s secret was his extraordinary dedication and focus. he seemed propelled by a desire to find more within himself .
senna (2010) was a documentary directed by asif kapadia and produced by tim bevan, eric fellner and james gay - rees. it was written by manish pandey and starring ayrton senna, alain prost, frank williams and ron dennis. certificate 12a; running time: 106 min .
prost was the beneficiary in 1989 after senna, who was able to carry on, was controversially disqualified to give the frenchman the world championship .
senna gets caught up in fifth, and then uses the force to waft into first place in one lap, without even breaking a sweat .
senna was arguably the greatest driver of his generation - and one of the greatest of all time - winning the f1 title on three occasions .
the only regret that i have in my career is to see this kind of film that we are having on ayrton ,
he told cnn in an exclusive interview for the circuit .
he thought senna was ruthless and dangerous, and could not compete with his total commitment and unwavering focus. it was an uneasy position for pandey and kapadia – talking to a four - times world champion for a film about a three - times world champion. on his desk prost had a series of books: the great challenge – five encyclopedias about the best drivers from five different eras: clark, stewart, lauda, senna and schumacher. there is not one called prost .
while we’ll again mention the enormous challenge the film’s makers had in deciding what to keep and what to leave on the cutting room floor, there are two important events – the pair’s forceful battle at the 1988 portuguese gp and the restart of the 1989 san marino gp – that are not covered when the senna - prost rivalry is portrayed .
upon leaving a screening of the documentary film senna the other night, viewers could be forgiven for wondering how anybody could harbour such resentment towards a man who was virtually christ in a crash helmet, and perhaps doubting whether it isn' t a stone likeness of the great brazilian that watches over rio de janeiro from the top of corcovado .
they took senna out of the car, and he gave a sigh and his body relaxed, and watkins, not a religious man, thought that was the moment his spirit left his body. but senna’s heart was still beating and he was flown to hospital in bologna. when they cut off his overalls, a small austrian flag was found – had he won the race, senna had intended to wave it in honour of ratzenberger .
if you liked the film please share it with as many people as you can. the people competing that year, both on and off the track, went on to achieve great things in the sport, one of them even became one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. this film has been made for the fans of motor racing and to honour a very special season .
for ayrton senna, the brazilian formula one champion, life was indeed too short. he died, aged 34, after a crash in the 1994 san marino grand prix, and both the producer, james gay - rees, and the film' s writer, manish pandey, are great admirers of their subject and formula one. they have created a viscerally exciting and intellectually stimulating documentary. the film' s director, asif kapadia, had little previous knowledge of, or interest in, motor sports, but his two previous films, the features the warrior and far north, show his fascination with legend, tragedy and mystical experience which are essential elements of the senna story .
today if you say prost you say senna. it is part of the f1 history and in my opinion is maybe the best years .
prost believes that he and senna were unwittingly the victims of their own success and did not receive the protection they deserved from the media and sponsors .
a poignant new documentary recalls the life of the daring young f1 racer ayrton senna, whose death in 1994 prompted a raft of reforms to racing .
“ayrton senna: beyond the speed of sound” (in japanese). urltoken. geneon universal entertainment. urltoken. retrieved 2011 - 06 - 12 .
i will not deny that i loved every second of senna, but i would not necessarily give it the fervent reception that so many others have .
when senna dies, the audience is left with an aching hole, a sense of the loss faced, of the regrets. his death set a precedent for safety initiatives that have since spared f1 drivers from fatalities. in the new york theater i saw the film in, i could hear the sniffles of middle - aged men as the credits began to roll, and the imagery of senna faded away. parting shots of senna' s declaration for love of pure racing capture the essence of motor sports, dating back to his feisty go - cart purist days, and evoke the integrity he brought to formula one as a devoted competitor .
the film can be viewed online in a web browser, on a connected tv or as a download on mobile devices. if you have any questions please refer to our faq or contact me .
the director asif kapadia came on board in february 2007 –' i loved the warrior, everybody loved the warrior, ’ pandey says – and even though kapadia was neither a motor racing fan nor an obvious choice for a documentary, he got the story straight away, he understood senna and brought his own brand of epic storytelling to the film .
an implication from senna, munich and the brian clough retromania is that sport works best not in the frenzied present moment but in memory, where it deepens and gains richness. another is that the pre - mass media age is a vast store of unseen detail, of untold stories just waiting for the author or film - maker' s torch .
in terms of accusations specific to amy, here’s what the filmmakers have to say: “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. during the production process, 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. ”
i also had the great pleasure to go to the thruxton historic easter meeting on the 4th april and film martin’s old car. chris drake welcomed me into his team and i had a fabulous day .
it could easily have fallen into the trap is being a ‘talking head’ style documentary, but narratives from a host of contributors – including the likes of senna’s family, f1 commentators, his team bosses and rival drivers – used in voice - over allows the film to hum along at a decent pace without getting bogged down in its material or its subject .
on may 1 1994 ayrton senna was killed on the track at imola, on the seventh lap of the san marino grand prix. he was 34.
senna is a 2010 british documentary film that depicts the life and death of brazilian motor-racing champion ayrton senna , directed by asif kapadia . the film was produced by studiocanal , working title films , and midfield films , and was distributed by the parent company of the latter two production companies , universal pictures . the film 's narrative focuses on senna 's racing career in formula one , from his debut in the 1984 brazilian grand prix to his death in an accident at the 1994 san marino grand prix , with particular emphasis on his rivalry with fellow driver alain prost . it relies primarily on archive racetrack footage and home video clips provided by the senna family , rather than retrospective video interviews , and has no formal commentary . 
senna is a 2010 british documentary film that depicts the life and death of brazilian motor-racing champion ayrton senna, directed by asif kapadia. the film was produced by studiocanal, working title films, and midfield films, and was distributed by the parent company of the latter two production companies, universal pictures. the film's narrative focuses on senna's racing career in formula one, from his debut in the 1984 brazilian grand prix to his death in an accident at the 1994 san marino grand prix, with particular emphasis on his rivalry with fellow driver alain prost. it relies primarily on archive racetrack footage and home video clips provided by the senna family, rather than retrospective video interviews, and has no formal commentary.
senna is a 2010 british documentary film that depicts the life and death of brazilian motor-racing champion ayrton senna, directed by asif kapadia. the film was produced by studiocanal, working title films, and midfield films, and was distributed by the parent company of the latter two production companies, universal pictures. the film's narrative focuses on senna's racing career in formula one, from his debut in the 1984 brazilian grand prix to his death in an accident at the 1994 san marino grand prix, with particular emphasis on his rivalry with fellow driver alain prost. it relies primarily on archive racetrack footage and home video clips provided by the senna family, rather than retrospective video interviews, and has no formal commentary.