Sasha Weiss

But maybe the best way to talk about his work is to talk about his best-known film on O.J. Simpson, O.J. Made in America, which comes out in 2016 to great acclaim on ESPN. It wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film that year.

Big deal. Got a ton of attention, and deservedly so, because... Part of its magic is that it takes an event that we all thought we knew. We had been over it a million times. And it gives it... We watched CNN.

Big deal. Got a ton of attention, and deservedly so, because... Part of its magic is that it takes an event that we all thought we knew. We had been over it a million times. And it gives it... We watched CNN.

We knew that many of us watched it, you know, as kids and watched the car chase and remember it and remember the polarization around it. The way that I would say black America and white America viewed the case very differently. And what Ezra manages to do in the film is to give a familiar recent historical event a much broader context.

We knew that many of us watched it, you know, as kids and watched the car chase and remember it and remember the polarization around it. The way that I would say black America and white America viewed the case very differently. And what Ezra manages to do in the film is to give a familiar recent historical event a much broader context.

And not only do you understand O.J., how huge he was, how beloved he was, how deep his downfall was, you also understand the context of race relations in California from the 1960s into the 90s and even the early 2000s. And you understand how many of the racial pathologies of our country run through this case.

And not only do you understand O.J., how huge he was, how beloved he was, how deep his downfall was, you also understand the context of race relations in California from the 1960s into the 90s and even the early 2000s. And you understand how many of the racial pathologies of our country run through this case.

So it's this incredibly layered document where all of these different energies are drawn together to tell a new story. And Ezra works on an enormous scale. The film is eight hours and I think is widely thought of as one of the greatest American documentaries, one of the greatest American films that has been made in the last decade.

So it's this incredibly layered document where all of these different energies are drawn together to tell a new story. And Ezra works on an enormous scale. The film is eight hours and I think is widely thought of as one of the greatest American documentaries, one of the greatest American films that has been made in the last decade.

Well, it may be worth saying, for one thing, that this film was not Ezra's idea originally. Huh. What do you mean? So after the success of O.J., I mean, he's like the toast of the film world. He could do anything. He could do anything. And thinking about his next project, he gets a call from Netflix, and they have a very enticing proposition.

Well, it may be worth saying, for one thing, that this film was not Ezra's idea originally. Huh. What do you mean? So after the success of O.J., I mean, he's like the toast of the film world. He could do anything. He could do anything. And thinking about his next project, he gets a call from Netflix, and they have a very enticing proposition.

So they tell him that they have made a deal with Prince's estate that gave them exclusive access to Prince's vault. Now, the vault, which is how it's known among Princeologists, is his personal archive, which was housed in Paisley Park, which was his kind of... home studio fortress in Minnesota where he lived and recorded and performed. And it had who knows what.

So they tell him that they have made a deal with Prince's estate that gave them exclusive access to Prince's vault. Now, the vault, which is how it's known among Princeologists, is his personal archive, which was housed in Paisley Park, which was his kind of... home studio fortress in Minnesota where he lived and recorded and performed. And it had who knows what.

I mean, it was a treasure trove of archival material.

I mean, it was a treasure trove of archival material.

So tantalizing. It's his vault. And people knew of its existence. And it was the kind of proposition that it would be very hard for a filmmaker like Ezra Edelman to say no to.

So tantalizing. It's his vault. And people knew of its existence. And it was the kind of proposition that it would be very hard for a filmmaker like Ezra Edelman to say no to.

So they find beautiful concert footage, some of which has never been seen before. They find band rehearsals, which at first seem like really exciting, but there's hours and hours of it, just music, just him playing music. They find some unfinished films that Prince made, but it's basically all performance. What they didn't find is almost anything that was candid or spontaneous. Mm-hmm.

So they find beautiful concert footage, some of which has never been seen before. They find band rehearsals, which at first seem like really exciting, but there's hours and hours of it, just music, just him playing music. They find some unfinished films that Prince made, but it's basically all performance. What they didn't find is almost anything that was candid or spontaneous. Mm-hmm.

Prince kind of hanging out with his friends. Prince on the off hours. Prince, you know, talking shit with the band. Prince writing music, composing music. I mean, he was a great songwriter. His process, nothing. And when they would find, like, the beginning of something or the suggestion of something, there was a little bit of footage of Prince horsing around with his girlfriends, for example.