On the heels of last year’s Imagine reissue, a new documentary will examine John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s relationship before and leading up to the album’s release. John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky features new interviews with Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, and the musicians who played on Imagine, among others.
A new trailer for the film, shows the couple spending time on the estate where they recorded Imagine, while others recount the time they spent together and how they would collaborate, with Ono writing lyrics next to Lennon. The film is due out September 13th, and will be available digitally, as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.
“Rock-pop songs appeal,” Ono said in a statement. “They talk to people. And there’s nothing like that. Imagine was a result of that. Both of us knew that we were talking in a way that people understand. The fact that ‘Imagine’ as a song was written and put out in the world was magical. And I hope you will smell the magic of it. I feel in the big picture the fact that John and I met — was to do this song.”
Filmmaker Michael Epstein, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1996 doc The Battle Over Citizen Kane, directed John & Yoko, which also looks into the couple’s art, activism, and politics. It also examines their respective childhoods, offers background on their Imagine movie and Ono’s Fly, and looks into their previously unreleased recordings. Others interviewed in the film include photographer David Bailey, curator John Dunbar (who organized the Ono art show where the couple met), one of their neighbors, and the studio designer who helped them build a place to record in their Tittenhurst Park home.