Cannes 2021: Val Kilmer's home footage to premiere as documentary
Val Kilmer
It was never easy, they say for the Hollywood directors who worked with Val Kilmer. Considered to be a true acting genius but extremely difficult to work with, Val Kilmer was off the Hollywood scene courtesy his cancer and tracheotomy. Now, he will be making a return to Cannes Film Festival 2021 with his docu film ‘Val’ that will premiere on July 7.
It is basically some raw footage of his life that is used as the basis of a new autobiographical documentary. These are hundreds of hours of film and videotape that were stored in boxes stacked up in the garage which are worked on by editor Leo Scott and former wife Joanne Whalley.
The Top Gun and Batman Forever star will see the premiere of Val, product of Amazon Studios and A24 makes its world debut on the Croisette.
Val Kilmer acknowledges in the documentary that he could be tough on directors and crew; a clip of him berating Dr. Moreau cinematographer William Fraker is among the footage featured. He’s equally clear that being a true actor is tough in Hollywood, a point he’s made in the past. There’s also a clip of him and the late director John Frankenheimer on the set of Dr. Moreau during a not-so-friendly exchange.
“Val is a very complex and brilliant man with so many layers. And we wanted to like try to get that feeling of him into the film, from his spirituality to a great sense of humor,” Scott said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “We never considered doing it any other way with interviews with third parties. We were very clear on that very early on.”
Meanwhile, we will get to watch Val Kilmer in action in the upcoming ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, in which he reprises his role as Iceman. It is scheduled to open in theaters this fall.
