David Bowie, the documentary “The Final Act” arrives in cinemas

Ten years after the death of David Bowie, “Bowie: The Final Act” arrives in Italian cinemas, a documentary directed by Jonathan Stiasny and co-produced by a pool of European broadcasters including Channel 4 and Arte. The film will screen as a special event on May 25, 26 and 27 in over 150 theatres, distributed by Madison Pictures in collaboration with Radio Capital.

There is an enormous body of books, articles and documentaries devoted to the British musician, a sign of just how central he remains to contemporary culture. Stiasny's film, however, tries to avoid the more conventional celebratory tone, building over ninety-plus minutes a narrative that spans the last thirty years of Bowie's career. From the mainstream breakthrough of “Let’s Dance” in the Eighties to the experimental detours of the following decade, including the controversial hard-rock experience with Tin Machine, the documentary traces the constant evolution of an artist incapable of standing still.

Ample space is also devoted to his comeback in the 2000s, culminating in the acclaimed performance at the 2000 Glastonbury Festival, a moment that helped relaunch his international image. After two further tours, the narrative moves on to his gradual withdrawal from the scene due to health problems, up to the extremely private recording sessions for “Blackstar”, the last album released just two days before the artist's death, on 10 January 2016.

Numerous longtime collaborators and figures from contemporary music help reconstruct Bowie's creative journey. Among them are producer Tony Visconti, musicians Mike Garson and Earl Slick, as well as Moby, Gary Kemp and Goldie, who in the film calls Bowie "a prophet of culture". These musical testimonials are joined by contributions from astronaut Chris Hadfield and writer Hanif Kureishi.

The documentary also features contributions from the artist's children: Duncan Jones, born Zowie Bowie, and Alexandria Zahra Jones.

"Bringing 'Bowie: The Final Act' to Italian audiences is an enormous privilege for us," said Manuele Ilari, president of Madison Pictures. "With this special release, we want to offer not only a celebration of an immense musical legacy, but also an honest portrait of the man behind the icon, who to the very end was able to turn his own fragility into art."

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