n 2014, with the 25th anniversary of his iconic album Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 approaching, George Michael was feeling reflective about that turbulent time of his life. From the infamous court case with his record label Sony, to the death of the love of his life Anselmo Feleppa, George wanted to tell the story in his own words and set the record straight, so began work on a feature film Freedom: George Michael with co-director David Austin.
Pre-production, research and assembly of the film started in late 2014 with filming commencing January 2016. George’s original cut was made as a full-length feature. The 1 hour 53 minute version was completed prior to his sad passing in 2016 and subsequently cut down for a TV special to coincide with the re release of Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1.
Directed by George Michael and David Austin, Freedom: George Michael Director’s Cut, tells the dramatic story of the making of Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1, the court case which followed and George’s personal struggle and pain as he loses Anselmo. George succeeded in reuniting the Freedom! ’90 video’s five supermodels for the film and it also features a stellar cast of contributors including Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Tony Bennett, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Mary J Blige, Kate Moss, Tracey Emin, Ricky Gervais and James Corden.
Freedom: George Michael Director’s Cut is the film as George had always intended and will be screened at film festivals around the world starting with Documentary Edge Film festival in New Zealand on 13 May and Krakow Film Festival on 29 May. Further screening dates to be announced.