Metallica attended the world premiere of their documentary Metallica Saved My Life at the Tribeca Film Festival last night, June 12, and paid tribute to the fans who shared their stories for the film.
Speaking to YouTuber Cherry The Geek TV on the red carpet before the screening at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York, guitarist Kirk Hammett described the evening as a "pretty special occasion for a pretty special film about a lot of very, very special people."
Directed by Swedish film-maker and videographer Jonas Åkerlund, who directed Lords Of Chaos as well as helming music videos for Metallica’s Whiskey In The Jar, Turn The Page and Manunkind, Metallica saved My Life celebrates the band’s worldwide fanbase and focus on some emotional individual stories, collected by Åkerlund via interviews in 23 countries.
Interviewed on the red carpet, James Hetfield credited American comedian and close friend of the band Jim Breur with providing the inspiration behind the documentary.
"Jim Breuer was opening up for us in the arena tour, and he was traveling around with a lot of these fans and just kind of got to know them staying in the Airbnbs with them," Hetfield explained. "And he says, 'James, you have got to hear these fricking stories, they're unbelievable - where these people came from, how they got into music and why.'... So He inspired this movie."
"I learned a lot," added Kirk Hammett. "As James was saying, we're curious about our fans, and I learned so much from this film about them. It was a really special experience for me personally."
A number of Metallica fans featured in the movie also attended the premiere, and Hetfield suggested that their presence turned him into a fan boy himself.
"It's hard to not just geek out and wave at them," he said. "I know you, you're in the movie! [I] try not to do that, but you can't help it! Once you hear their stores, it's hard to not love them."
"I was very afraid that it was going to change them in a fame way," Metallica's frontman added, "but they're helping us get the message out that we're all the same."
Metallica Saved My Life is the third official film centred around the California metal titans, following 2004 documentary Some Kind Of Monster and 2013 action/concert film hybrid Metallica Through The Never.
Watch the trailer below:
