Amy Out in Theaters

The Amy Winehouse documentary is in theaters starting today, following a run of great reviews after its premier at Cannes in May. Director Asif Kapadia had over one hundred hours of footage to work with, ranging from a fourteen-year-old Winehouse singing a friend “Happy Birthday” to a video of the singer’s funeral at age twenty-seven. Although the Winehouse family has distanced itself from the film, citing their belief that it skews facts and portrays Mitch Winehouse, the singer’s father, in a particularly bad light, Kapadia has maintained that the project clearly demanded anything but a “whitewashing job” from the get-go: “Look, we all know how this ended,” he told the New York Times, “there are no surprises here. It wasn’t pretty, and we have to deal with that. It was the only way worth doing it.” Nick Shymansky, the singer’s first manager, hasn’t come out for or against the documentary, adding instead his hope that after its release the media may finally let Winehouse’s music speak for itself, saying: “I hope after this that everyone leaves her alone for a bit.” Watch the film’s trailer after the jump.