‘Pee-Wee As Himself’ Director On Paul Reubens’ Decision To Come Out In HBO Doc: “I Was Proud Of Him” – Sundance Studio – Deadline
By Matthew Carey Documentary Editor, Awards
TITLE: Pee-Wee as Himself
Section: Episodic
Director: Matt Wolf
Logline: A chronicle of the life of artist and performer Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman. Prior to his recent death, Reubens, beloved for his nostalgic, avant garde programs like Pee-wee’s Playhouse, spoke in-depth about his creative influences, and the personal struggles he faced to persevere as an artist.
Distributor: HBO Documentary Films
Watch on Deadline
Panelists: Matt Wolf (director).Key quotes: “I think he had decided that he wanted to come out in the documentary, and I wanted to help him do that. And I was proud of him for doing that on his own terms. We’re of different generations — I’m gay and I’ve made a lot of films about queer history, and I empathize with and really respect generational differences around that. And it was at once a source of connection and tension between Paul and I, but I thought that he did a beautiful job coming out in the film.” – Matt Wolf
On the conflict over the creative direction and collaboration on the documentary: “There was certainly a power struggle between Paul and I, and the relationship was thrilling, and it could also be very contentious, but I empathized with Paul and I understood where he was coming from. He’s somebody who lost control of his personal narrative in the media. And of course, he would be suspicious of the documentary process or confounded that a filmmaker like myself would have final cut or the agency to tell his story. I came into the project wanting to be an advocate for Paul. And a lot of what I do as a documentary filmmaker is to work collaboratively with somebody to tell their story, but act as a translator to help frame a collection of experiences with a lot of complexity into a coherent story. And so that’s what I aimed to do, but it could be a tough process.” – Wolf
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Source: https://deadline.com/video/pee-wee-as-himself-interview-paul-reubens-documentary-director-matt-wolf/
