The 51st Telluride Film Festival officially kicked off Friday afternoon with the world premiere of Piece by piecean animated documentary about the innovative singer, songwriter and record producer Patrick Williamsas a Patron Preview screening at the Werner Herzog Theatre. And the consensus of those present was that the film is a truly original, unconventional, fun and entertaining film.
Directed by the great Oscar-winning documentary maker Morgana Neville (20 feet from fame), the tense 93-minute film — at the request of Williams, who experiences sounds visually, something known as synesthesia — uses LEGO animations to illustrate Williams’ journey from the Virginia Beach projects to the heights of showbiz, and the obstacles he encountered along the way. (Neville had never worked with animation before.)
Williams is not only the subject of the film, and opens up like never before during LEGO-ized interviews with Neville, but also one of its producers. This undoubtedly helped pave the way for the film to incorporate many of the hit songs Williams has performed and/or produced throughout his career, including the one he is most closely associated with, “Happy,” as well as two new songs. One in particular, “Piece by Piece,” which features the Princess Anne High School marching band, could be a strong contender for the Best Original Song Oscar.
Speaking of the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn't always known what to do with films that blur genre lines. 2008 Waltz with Bashirfor example, it was a wonderful animated documentary that received only one Oscar nomination for Best International Film. 2021 Run away It was the first animated film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature AND the first documentary ever nominated for an Oscar for best animated film. A documentary has never been nominated for an Oscar for best film. And only three animated feature films, the 1991 one Beauty and the Beastof 2009 On and 2010s The history of toys 3 —they ever have been.
But Focus Features, which will release Piece by piece wide on October 11, and the teams supporting Williams and Neville, intend to push Piece by piece not only for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Original Song, but also for inclusion in the Top 10 category. Considering how small the field of contenders is this year, and how much love and admiration there is for Williams and Neville, I wouldn't rule it out.