Director Asif Kapadia: ‘Why I made Senna’
‘I don’t normally make documentaries. I’m a drama director. I’ve made a few short docs, but I don’t like talking heads or “voice of God” narrators. So how could I make this story into something cinematic, engaging, emotional, funny and tragic? How could I make a dramatic movie which would work for people who don’t like Formula 1, who have never seen a race in their life or never even heard of Senna?

‘We started to collect material, and what I learnt over the next four years was that Senna was the perfect person to make a movie about. He transcended his sport. He had an intensity and a charisma that separated him from all of the others. Not only was he a genius on the track, three times world champion, he was maybe the best pilot of all time. He also had an amazing humility. He was a hero to Brazilians, he had the hopes and dreams of 200 million people following his every race, he was loved by rich, poor, young, old, black and white. Families gathered around the TV to watch him race.

‘It’s all real too, I didn’t need to shoot a single frame. My team and I used the actual footage to create a three-act story of the life of Ayrton Senna. There are no talking heads and no voiceover. Senna narrates his own epic, dramatic, thrilling journey. Hopefully, people will understand why this inspirational story needed to be told, why it had to be made as a movie for the big screen, and why it is a film for everyone.’