Showtime to debut Whitney Houston documentary
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Michelle Clancy
| 08 March 2017

Showtime Documentary Films will premiere Whitney: Can I Be Me, a film exploring the career and complicated life of Whitney Houston, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

The powerful documentary is directed by BAFTA Award winner Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney, Tales of the Grim Sleeper) and will air on SHOWTIME later this year.

“Nick is a bold storyteller with an acclaimed track record of provocative documentary filmmaking,” said Vinnie Malhotra, SVP, documentary and unscripted programming, Showtime Networks. “Showtime Documentary Films is excited to partner with him on this project, as he delves deep into the life of Whitney Houston to tell the real story behind the rise and fall of one of America’s most iconic singers.”

Houston was one of the most successful female recording artists of all time. After a troubled marriage to singer Bobby Brown and many years of struggles with addiction, Houston died suddenly and tragically at age 48. With behind the scenes materials, candid interviews and performance footage – including many of Houston’s greatest hits – the documentary will offer a raw and uncensored look at Houston, exploring the impact her life and death had on the people around her and the world of music.

According to her band members, “Can I be me?” was Houston’s favourite expression, one she used so much that they sampled it to play at the start of rehearsals. The film explores Whitney’s central dilemma: even though she had made millions of dollars, had more consecutive No 1s than The Beatles, and was recognised as having one of the greatest voices of all time, she still couldn’t do what she wanted to do, either professionally or in her personal life.