H.E.R. Discusses Directing Upcoming Curtis Mayfield Documentary

A new documentary about legendary soul and funk artist Curtis Mayfield, that’s directed by H.E.R., just had its premiere — and H.E.R. has taken some time to discuss how the project came about.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the multi-talented artist talked about the documentary, titled The Makings of Curtis Mayfield, which came about after H.E.R. mentioned Mayfield during an award acceptance speech that film producer Peter Afterman was present for. Afterman approached the musician after the speech with the idea of directing the documentary.

H.E.R. spoke on how the project differs from most biographical documentaries in that it focuses more on the music than anything else — something she said was “always the most interesting thing to me.”

“As I was sitting down with people, the common thing that I recognized the most within the conversations was impact,” she said. “His nickname is ‘a gentle genius,’ and I had no idea what that meant until I was listening to how many people were students of his. His presence is not only about loving that song from ‘72 or watching Superfly. No matter how versed you are in who he is, his presence was so felt and his genius was so felt.”

“People give the credit to Marvin Gaye, and they give some credit to Stevie [Wonder] and there’s a lot of people who spoke politically to Sly [Stone], but [Mayfield] came before a lot of those people,” she continued.

Elsewhere, she talked about some of the people interviewed for the documentary, most notably Dr. Dre.

“Dr. Dre was really special to me because we were in his space [filming took place in Dr. Dre’s home studio], and he knew so much about Curtis,” H.E.R. said. “He had these child-like reactions to the music in real time. When people experience Dr. Dre’s love for Curtis in this doc, they get a different Dr. Dre. I think that is so powerful. In that interview, you get to see how he influenced hip-hop.”

The artist also spoke with one of Mayfield’s sons, Cheaa, noting that it was “really important to get his perspective.”

“He gave us what he could, and he’s later in the doc, because that was what he remembered from when he was a kid,” she said. “I hope that the way that I’m telling [Curtis’] story is the way that he wanted to be told. I think Curtis would have wanted us to focus on the music as much as possible.”

“He was actually such a pure soul, really a man of integrity. Talking to his family and thinking about how to stay true to him were important to me,” she added. “I did not want to be like, ‘Where’s the scandal? What’re the things that he did in the dark?’ I wanted to give him the credit that he deserves.”

The Makings of Curtis Mayfield premiered at this year’s SXSW. According to a synopsis for the film, it “pays homage to Mayfield by underscoring his direct impact on some of the most renowned artists of our generation.” It’s unknown if the project will have a wider theatrical release or be put on a streaming service at some point later this year.