First Look at Cannes-Bound ‘Diego Maradona’ Feature Documentary

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Diego Maradona waves to raucous Napoli fans before heading into a media scrum and press conference in the first clip from the feature documentary about the soccer superstar.

“” is the third film from the team behind the award-winning “Senna” and “Amy,” with Asif Kapadia directing and James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin producing.

They put the film together from 500 hours of never-before-seen footage from the Argentine player’s personal archive. It tells the story of Maradona – regarded as one of the best players of all time – during his time at Italian club Napoli in the 1980s, tracing his on and off the pitch exploits in Italy.

Maradona will be in Cannes where the film about him will play out of competition.

In the clip, he is seen heading from the outside of the Napoli stadium into a press room where a club official pleads with journalists and photographers to calm down, threatening to cancel the press conference of they come any closer, prompting jeers from the assembled reporters.

Through a skylight the club’s fans are chanting “Diego! Diego!,” and as the chaotic scene plays out, a seemingly calm Maradona looks up at the supporters and smiles.

The film will be handled internationally by Altitude Film Sales, with U.S. sales being handled by Cinetic Media. Altitude Film Distribution has taken U.K. rights.