Director Alex Gibney Completes Paul Simon Documentary ‘In Restless Dreams’ for Expected Fall Festival Run

Director Alex Gibney Completes Paul Simon Documentary ‘In Restless Dreams’ for Expected Fall Festival Run

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney recently finisheded production on his latest music documentary, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, following a three year shoot, according to Deadline. The anticipated project’s completion comes as it’s also being reported that its filmmakers are preparing to bring it on the film festival circuit this fall.

The movie chronicles the career of the titular Grammy Award-winning folk-pop singer-songwriter. The documentary also follows Simon’s journey creating his new album, Seven Psalms. The track on the record pose questions about faith and mortality, particularly during the pandemic, and also feature him contending with his hearing loss.

Throughout In Restless Dreams, Gibney and Simon also journey through a dreamlike world of storytelling that transcends both time and space, as it moves freely between present and past. The film also showcases both his music making in the here-and-now.

The movie also offers a unique peek into Simon’s entire career, from Tom & Jerry to Simon & Garfunkel and the triumphs of Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints. Rarely seen and heard footage of Simon on his own in England in 1964; outtakes from the 1969 16mm documentary, Songs of America; and early rehearsal videos from his first days playing with Graceland musicians in Johannesburg are also featured in the film. Wynton Marsalis, Lorne Michaels and Simon’s wife, Edie Brickell, also offer important insights about the musician and his songs in the upcoming movie.

“In early 2021 amid the pandemic, Paul invited me to film him while he was making his most recent album, Seven Psalms. Paul was losing his hearing in one ear, and it was a devastating time. His tribulations in making that album about faith and mortality are the emotional heart of this story,” Gibney shared about working with Simon on In Restless Dreams. “Creating a visual dreamscape to meet Paul’s life as an artist has been painstaking, and one of my greatest joys.”

Jigsaw Productions produced the documentary with Closer Media and Anonymous Content. Closer Media and Anonymous Content also co-financed the film. The movie’s producers include Gibney, Erin Edeiken, David Rahtz and Svetlana Zill. Jeff Kramer, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello and Kristen Vaurio are serving as executive producers on In Restless Dreams.

Zhang Xin, William Horberg, Joey Marra, and Bob Xu are also serving as executive producers on the feature, on behalf of Closer Media. Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw, and David Levine are also serving as executive producers on the project, on behalf of Anonymous Content.

“Paul Simon’s songs, solo and with Simon and Garfunkel, were my favorites as a student in the U.K. in the ‘80s as a girl fresh from China having grown up during the Cultural Revolution when there was no exposure to the outside world,” said Zhang Xin, Executive Producer and Founder of Closer Media.

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