If you missed last year's inaugural Made In America Festival, you can experience the whole thing and more in an upcoming documentary, directed by two-time Oscar winner Ron Howard.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Howard says that he felt a little uncomfortable directing the documentary, seeing as he hadn't heard of many of the artists that were set to play. The festival's lineup included Skrillex, Pearl Jam, Run-DMC, Drake, Passion Pit, Jay-Z and more.
He told Rolling Stone that Jay-Z asked him if he would be interested in covering the festival, Howard said he just followed his curiosity and went for it. "I was meeting artists I didn't know and others I had barely heard of," he said. "I found it fascinating. The film very much reflects that."
Beyond concert footage, Howard interwove stories about the American dream, the idea behind the festival, which also became the angle from which many artists approached their performances. "There was this inspiring expression of possibility, self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit, which was what Jay-Z was talking about initially," Howard told Rolling Stone. "And I kept seeing it pop up over and over again."
According to Howard, there was a conscious effort to make the festival cross genres. As the visionary behind the festival, Jay-Z believed that breaking down musical taste based on genre is a tired idea because music is binary — it's either good or it's not.
The documentary will premiere on Showtime Oct. 11. Watch the trailer here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.
