We knew that former Velvet Underground frontman and art-rock icon Lou Reed is amid a pretty serious foray into photography, but that he’s dabbling in film as well is news to me. As it turns out, the trailer to his forthcoming directorial debut, Red Shirley, has been hiding in plain view on YouTube since early this year, but the Playlist graciously alerted us to the project today.
Reed and collaborator Ralph Gibsonpieced the documentary together from footage shot on the eve of the 100th birthday of Reed’s cousin, Shirley Novick, in which she provides a narrative about her long life, including her survival of two world wars and account of her work as a dressmaker for almost five decades.
It looks like a wonderful film, based on the trailer alone, but that’s not all: We dug around a bit and unearthed an interview with the Independent from last year in which Reed revealed that the film will feature his own new original music. “I made the soundtrack for it with my band, Metal Machine Trio,” he said.
Red Shirley will premiere in Nyon, Switzerland next month, as part of the Visions du Reel film festival. Watch the trailer below: