Apple TV+ has released the trailer for Todd Haynes’ forthcoming documentary, The Velvet Underground, which will arrive in theaters and on the streaming platform October 15th.
The Velvet Underground is the first documentary from the acclaimed Carol, I’m Not Here, and Far From Heaven filmmaker.
The trailer is an ode to the mythologized 1960s downtown New York art scene that birthed The Velvets. Touching on the band’s avant-garde sound, the intersection of film, music, and art of the era, Lou Reed’s esoteric approach to making music, and The Velvets undying influence.
“I didn’t need to make a movie to tell you how great the band is,” Haynes said.
“There were a lot of things I was going to be, like, ‘OK, we know this. Let’s get right to how this happened, this music, where these people came from and how this miracle of this group of people came together’.”
The film will feature interviews with surviving members of the band and those that surrounded them during their glory days. Offering a goldmine of previously unreleased performances and other footage.
As Todd Haynes notes, the majority of the footage used in the film was captured by Andy Warhol. An extended shot in the trailer shows the band screen tests for the Factory.
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“The only film on them is by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. That’s so rare and weird. There is no traditional coverage of the band playing live. There’s just Warhol films,” Haynes says. “We just have art within art within art to tell a story about great art.”
An accompanying soundtrack featuring Velvet Underground classics and rarities will arrive in tandem with the film. Haynes curated the soundtrack alongside the film’s music supervisor, Randall Poster.
Watch the trailer for Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground
