While composing an original for Carnegie Hall, Jon Batiste receives 11 Grammy nominations and is at a career high. But this trajectory is upended when his lifepartner – best selling author Suleika Jaouad — learns that her long dormant cancer has returned in this portrait of two artists at a crossroads.
The film takes us on a journey of two people who overcome life’s obstacles. It’s a compelling love story and a tale of survival, amidst roaring successes and failures.
We had the privleage of attending a Q&A with the director and film subject, Suleika.
Q: [For Suleika] As the film evolved and Mathew’s approach changed, when did you decide that you wanted to be a part of it and how did that work out?
A: [Suleika] I had told the story once before and on my own terms and in my own words and I had frankly zero interest in retelling it. Initially my participation was simply in a supportive capacity. I wanted to be helpful for Jon’s film about the Symphony, whatever way that meant. As my relapse happened and as events begin to unfold it became clear to me that I was going to become a subject of this documentary. Ultimately very happily so. I don’t think it’s possible to tell the story of American Symphony without telling the story of the symphony of life that accompanied it. I had the great joy of becoming friends with Matt in this process and the three of us really getting to deepen the story together and reimagine what we thought it might be. In my mind, you’re not doing your job right if you start out with an idea for a creative endeavour and you stick to it. It has to change, it has to turn, it has to surprise. I am reminded of a line by Robert Frost who says, “no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader, no surprises in the writer, no surprises in the reader.” I think that’s true for filmmaking.
Q: I am wondering how the three of you, decided on the boundaries and navigating the boundaries around filming
A [Suleika]: One thing that was important to me was that if we were going to tell this story, we were not going to conform to the typical narrative arc. Which is to say it starts with a dramatic diagnosis, a lump, whatever it might be and it ends with a victorious tale of survival or death. I really wanted to bring to life what it means to be in the trenches when your drowning in an ocean of uncertainty and you don’t know how your story is going to end, you don’t know how the film story is going to end. It’s important we didn’t shy away from those hard moments. Matt was such a sensitive, thoughtful co-pilot in that expedition. He was incredibly respectful of the days that I said, “I can’t do it today, I need time to myself” and there were entire weeks like that. We were determined to do it anyway that was possible, even if it meant breaking many hospital policies, Matt and the crew did whatever we could to film when we were ready.
A [Matthew]: I have filmed in all sorts of sensitive situations throughout my career and this was particularly intimate. It’s a love story with the two of them occupying totally different spaces, COVID issues, Jon and I traveling which meant we had to take a lot into consideration. To pull back a little higher, Suleika really didn’t want to be the sick counter-point to Jon and his success and we had dialogues about that early on. I really wanted to follow her as an artist and person, in addition to Jon’s partner. This was equally important to the both of us to achieve.
Q [To Matt]: Your past work has been set in challenging situations, how do you adapt as a documentarian to the changes, day-to-day to the story and make decisions when need-be about how the whole thing unfolds? Tell us about that process.
A [Matthew]: When I was 21 years old, I learnt that if you end up with the story you started with then you weren’t listening along the way. Which was beautiful advice for life and filmmaking. Don’t be dogmatic. Be open to the story changing. I have held this so near and dear to my heart, both in terms of the macro with the choices I’ve made with regards to the stories I’ve picked to tell. As well as in the micro sense, within each shoot, each shoot day, each hour, look outside the frame. I really religiously believe in that idea.
Q: With regards to the different threads of stories that we are seeing in this film, there’s the beautiful marriage, the couple’s individual journey and then the musical aspect. What was your philosophy towards combining those elements and creating a balance?
A [Matthew]: We shot 1500 hundred hours of footage that we brought down to what we have released. We really wrestled in the edit room with questions like, should this be a series, should this a series doc? There was so much material we had. A thousand different filmmakers would have made a thousand different films. The more and more we chiseled away at this puzzle, it was clear that this was a love story. It was about art as a survival mechanism. That perminates every frame of this story. I didn’t want to lose sight of the process film, the making of the Symphony. Capturing art and music, is a very difficult thing. I have studied tons of music docs and made another one myself. I can’t tell you what Jon does musically, but I wanted to make you be able to feel what he does. What it feels like to be in the room as he is figuring something out, as he is processing. You see that moment of discovery and that comes from spending time, gaining trust and being there.
Q: Suleika, on that note, we see music and also see your art and your work in the film. Can you share what you’re working on these days? What projects are keeping you busy?
A: I learn the first time I got sick that you can’t cling to what was. You can’t cling to the projects you had, who you once were or where you were going. It turns into a recipe for endless frustration when the ceiling caves in on you and everything becomes unfamiliar. It’s a recipe for defeat. This time around, I tried to to be completely open to the unexpected. Like I say in the film, when I lost my first language and love which was writing, I had to adapt. That is the creative part of survival. You have to reimagine everything about how you exist within your limitations, how you engage with the world when you’re stuck in a room. I reached for something not familiar to me, a paintbrush. I am not a painter. I did not grow up studying painting but I think, watercolors, much like life, are messy and you can’t control or contain them. That’s why that seems like a natural thing to experiment. I got to tap into a whole new part of my subconscious and my experience in the world. Like so many unexpected things, it’s turning into something new. I am working on a book of essays and paintings right now.
Q: Matt, I want to ask you about your instincts as a filmmaker and how you know when to pick up the camera and start recording? [Refers to a compelling and raw moment from the film].
A: I shoot a lot. Those days we were filming 14-16 hours a day. I owe so much to Jon and Suleika for this through such an unbelievable and difficult moment. We were often filming around the clock. We basically filmed every day for 7 months. The sub-theme of the film is Jon’s fame, 11 Grammy nominations, winning 5, so I wanted to explore that. Him walking through the airport, I knew something would happen. I didn’t know certain things would exist but that was just one of those beautiful documentary scenes that you can’t write. If you wrote that in a scripted film it would be preposterous.
Q [To both]: You two have been through a very profound experience, during the making of the film, I am wondering what changed for you as people, philosophically or therapeutically?
A [Suleika]: I think what was extraordinary to me was watching Matt wrestle with such an enormous bank of footage, was how limber he stayed. I probably watched 50, 60 or 100 versions, I don’t know of this film. Every cut was a different story, a different part of the brain, until he figured out how to weave all of them together. So many artists feel the pressure to stick to their plan. It has been extraordinary to watch you tap into that same improvisational freedom that we see in the Symphony. When the power cuts out and Jon has a moment of panic and then a smirk, like “alright, let me show you.” That is what you [referring to Matt] did. So many of us are tasked with when events in our life require us to have that same defiant improvisation.
A [Matt]: There are so many filmmakers I love, respect and have learnt from. It’s such a privilege to tell stories and make films. I think, to be able to every couple years be able to dive into a new pond and swim around, feels so so lucky to be able to do that. I hope I can continue to do it. Every film has changed me and this one has changed me an unbelievable amount.
Watch American Symphony on Netflix, coming soon.