EMINEM DOCUMENT STANS INSTRUCTIONS FANGE OBSESSION AND STAN CULTURE

The new Emin a documentary, StainS, gives a handful of lucky fans a chance to reflect on their deep admiration of their favorite artist – but finding the right line between love and obsession was a balance for the director Steven Leckart.

“The reason why ‘Stan’ exists and such an iconic song is that there is a sense that it might be real, right? And, of course, there are people out there that is obsessed,” said Leckart only Weekly US Before Thursday of the documentary, August 7, theatrical release. “That is, there were people who claimed to be associated with (eminem) for sure. Everything under the sun. When you have 45 million followers On Instagram, and you’re one of the most famous people in the world, you’re going to attract a lot of variety. After a while, nothing surprised me. “

The film, which includes honest interviews with Eminem (the real name of Marshall Mathers) for his life in the magnifying glass, explores the complex relationship between the rapper and its legion of listeners over the years. It is a dynamic that first emerged with the release of his single in 2000 “Stan,” a song about an obsession fan whose hero worship drives to his early death. The track, include Bite.

The concept for the documentary, Leckart said, “many years ago,” when the producer Paul Rosenberg Want to do something “unconventional” – a deep dive into a fan culture.

“They continued to run into these people at shows, some of which would have had bleach yellow hair (eminem at the time), or they were dying hard that would appear in random countries in Europe (from America), and so they were starting to get this idea of some people who could want to include in the film,” he explained. “And they did a little filming back in the day.”

When Leckhart joined the project five years ago, the casting process was kicked into “high gear.” The Director who won Emmy and his team gave an online link via Eminem’s own social media accounts to an online questionnaire. “And within three to four months, we thought, more or less over 9,000 presentations from around the world,” he said.

In terms of choosing who would actually be addressed in the documentary, Leckhart emphasized that they are looking for variety. “Like, we already have a person with a lot of tattoos (from eminem) and she’s in the World Guiness Records book, so let’s not focus on tattoos,” he explained, adding that they would “look for people who reflected the story of Eminem or the music in different ways.”

Eventually, they were able to build “this amazing Mixtape of people” from the 22-tattoo girl to fans who have traveled to Detroit so they could stand on the land where Eminem House was once.

Despite some of Eminem’s most loyal followers taking part in the project – and a section of the dock dedicated to discussing the possibility of those fans meeting their idol – the artist “Losing yourself” does not cross paths with any of his fellow interviewees in the film. Leckhart said it was a topic that was not even Broach to Eminem, because he “did not want the film to become a vehicle for our characters to meet.”

“I didn’t want to do what would feel like a reality show moment, for a lack of a better word,” he said, noting that the story of one particular fan, Zolt, meant to meet eminem in a special way that deserved his own moment to shine.

“After already meeting him and having that picture, and the way he told the story in the interview, was like a dream. It was so strange,” he remembered Zolt telling his story of crossing paths with an eminem. “The way he describes it, it was like he had ascended to heaven and met an angel. So there was no way in which a documentary film crew could hold something magical that had already happened.”

Eminem, for his part, revisits more than his complex history at times with his fans in the dock – the rapper also discusses his past reliance, his life as a father to a girl Jade jade and his public persona. According to Leckart, there was actually nothing off limits.

“What’s beautiful about (Eminem) and his team of leap meet them and then developing the project and having lots of conversations, it’s been collaborative throughout the whole process,” he told us. “So there really was, ‘Steven, tell us what you think, tell us what you want to do, tell us.’ And then we would get a dialogue. ‘Here’s a list of things and we’re going to break your heart because we don’t.’ I have been very fortunate that it is truly one of the most collaborative projects I have ever been on.

Leckhart is extremely proud of the project as a whole, which is at the heart of it a celebration of the impact that Eminem has had on people through his music and lyrics. He hopes that viewers will see him as well.

“To be honest, the interviews we did with the Stans were so deep,” he shared. “So what we see is, in the end, the best of those stories. But every individual we interviewed had an emotional moment.”

Stan There will be a limited theatrical relief on Thursday, August 7, through Sunday, August 10.