Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia has called closing the legendary “7 Up” documentary series a “dream job.” Speaking at Rome’s MIA Market on Thursday, the “Senna,” “Amy” and “Maradona” director opened up about being handed the reins of the groundbreaking series that followed 14 everyday Brits over more than 60 years — and what it meant to bring it to a close.
Asif Kapadia (Credits: Variety)
Kapadia built his career telling the stories of larger-than-life figures — from a charismatic Formula 1 racing legend to a brilliant but flawed soccer god to a troubled, tragic singer. But when asked about his “dream job,” he said it was this group of “ordinary people” in their seventies who stole his heart.
7 Up Documentary Series: More Than 60 Years of Ordinary Lives
The “Up” series is one of the most extraordinary experiments in documentary history: checking in with the same 14 British subjects every seven years since childhood, capturing how their lives, loves, work and politics evolved across six decades. The final two-part installment aired last month in the U.K. on ITV, closing the loop on a project that has run since the early 1960s.
Kapadia described the experience as “amazing,” “profound” and “beautiful” — fitting words for a series that turned the simple act of revisiting someone’s life into one of the most powerful storytelling devices ever put on television.
What Asif Kapadia’s Farewell to 7 Up Means
Few filmmakers were better suited to shepherd the series home. Kapadia’s archive-driven features have redefined how documentaries are built, and entrusting the “Up” finale to him gave the series’ final chapter the weight it deserved. After more than 60 years, the lives of those 14 people — and the viewers who grew up alongside them — have their ending.
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
