27/04/2009

BAFTA-winning British director Asif Kapadia (The Warrior [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Far North [+see also:
film review
film profile]) will direct a feature documentary on Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna for Working Title. James Gay-Rees (Long Time Dead) will produce and the project’s writer Manish Pandey will executive produce with Kevin Macdonald and Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

Senna won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34 in a crash while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy.

Kapadia said, “I was watching him when he was at his peak and followed his battles with Alain Prost, the French driver. I also happened to be watching when he crashed and died. Also, I’ve always been interested in characters that are outsiders and in a way Senna was quite different. He was a spiritual character, he was quite religious and quite outspoken and you know, flawed. He was a tough guy, very generous and very brave. All of these elements made me think that he was a character that we can make a film about.”

Kapadia is no stranger to documentaries having made a number of short ones when he worked for British television. He said, “If you look at the nature of the sport, there is so much material and there is so much to work with that already exists of the real person and that became the thing that made me really interested. In the films I’ve done, right from the student films to the features, there’s always been that mixture of using the real people and real places and there is always an affection for working with reality and nature or real, non-professional actors.”