HBO to Air George Harrison Doc Dir. by Martin Scorcese on 10/5-6

HBO SECURES NORTH AMERICAN TV RIGHTS TO MARTIN SCORSESE DOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD

George Harrison

HBO has acquired the North American TV rights to Martin Scorsese‘s George Harrison: Living In The Material World from Grove Street Pictures. The film was produced by Scorsese, Olivia Harrison and Nigel Sinclair. Margaret Bodde served as executive producer on the film. The documentary will debut in two parts – on Oct. 5 and 6, 2011 – exclusively on HBO.

George Harrison: Living In The Material World focuses the imaginative and inspired eye of one of cinema’s most preeminent filmmakers on one of the world’s most influential men. The film takes viewers on the musical and spiritual voyage that was George Harrison’s life, much of it told in his own words. The result is deeply moving and touches each viewer in unique and individual ways.

Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese traces Harrison’s life from his musical beginnings in Liverpool through his life as a musician, a seeker, a philanthropist and a filmmaker, weaving together interviews with Harrison and his closest friends, performances, home movies and photographs. Much of the material in the film has never been seen or heard before. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind and soul of one of the most talented artists of his generation and a profoundly intimate and affecting work of cinema.

The film includes interviews with Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, George Martin, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty, Phil Spector, Ringo Starr and Jackie Stewart. They speak honestly and frankly about George’s many talents and contradictions.

Comments Scorsese, “I will never forget the first time I heard All Things Must Pass the overwhelming feeling of taking in that all glorious music for the first time. It was like walking into a cathedral. George was making spiritually awake music – we all heard and felt it – and I think that was the reason that he came to occupy a very special place in our lives. So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it. Spending time with Olivia, interviewing so many of George’s closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music – it was a joy, and an experience I’ll always treasure.”

Additionally, in late September, Abrams Books will publish Olivia Harrison’s George Harrison: Living in the Material World, a personal archive of photographs, letters, diaries and memorabilia from George’s life that reveals the arc of his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool, to the astonishment of the Beatles years, to his days as an independent musician and bohemian squire. The book release is intended to coincide with the release of Scorsese’s film.