I Am: Celine Dion

In a world dominated by constant pitching and fundraising, once in a long while, filmmakers get “The Call.” “The Call” is when a producer calls and asks if you are interested in a project, fully funded and with the main participant ready to go. Such was the case for Academy Award®-nominated director Irene Taylor (“Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements”, “The Final Inch”) who received a call from a producer about the possibility of making what ultimately became Irene’s exceptional portrait documentary “I Am: Celine Dion.”

Irene joins Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss how she was approached for the project and the surprisingly close collaborative relationship that she formed with Celine as the iconic singer faced up to the health crisis that forced her to stop performing. Suffering for over 15 years with a rare neurological disorder called “Stiff Person Syndrome,” Celine kept her condition secret before revealing the diagnosis to fans in a video testimonial (captured in a meta moment by Irene’s team). In our deep dive conversation, Irene talks about some of the emotionally wrenching scenes in the film, how Irene and her small crew practically embedded at Celine’s house and the ultimate question for any filmmaker in her situation: “How the hell are we gonna deal with the “Titanic” song?”

“I Am: Celine Dion” is available for streaming on Prime Video.

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