7th December, 2019
Taylor Swift is headed to Sundance!
The celebrated songstress is the subject of a new documentary, Taylor Swift: Miss Americana and the film — which has been involved in a public feud regarding music rights and clearances — will be opening this year’s Sundance Film Festival in the snowy mountain town of Park City, Utah, in January.
According to the festival’s programming lineup, the upcoming documentary — directed by Lana Wilson — is “a raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.”
The project will look at her current work, as she wrote and recorded her latest album, Lover, and will include older material from her formative years and earlier albums before she moved to Republic Records and Universal Music Group from her old label, Big Machine.
The documentary first gained attention when Swift mentioned the project after taking to social media on Nov. 14, where she slammed Big Machine — specifically Scooter Bruan and Scott Borchetta, who own and run the label and who have been embroiled in a months-long feud with Swift — for allegedly forbidding her from performing her old songs at the 2019 American Music Awards, and for not allowing her old music to be used in the film.
“[They]have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film,” Swift claimed at the time.
She went on to sing her old hits at the AMAs, during a medley of songs which she performed in honor of receiving the Artist of the Decade Award, and Braun denied her claims that Big Machine had denied the documentary clearance for her old music.
Variety reports that Big Machine granted the clearances following Swift’s post.
A few days after Swift’s post, Braun claimed that he and his family had gotten death threats, and he said he felt as if his safety was in question, and thus publicly asked Swift to meet and hash things out.
Big Machine Denies Blocking Taylor Swift From Singing Her Songs
“I’m open to ALL possibilities. My attempts and calls to have an open discussion with you over the last six months have all been rejected,” Braun claimed in a lengthy post on Instagram on Nov. 22. “While some on your team and many of our mutual friends have tried to get you to the table, all have had no luck. It almost feels as if you have no interest in ever resolving the conflict.”
“At this point with safety becoming a concern I have no choice other than to publicly ask for us to come together and try to find a resolution,” Braun continued. “I have tried repeatedly through your representatives to achieve a solution but unfortunately here were are. This game of telephone isn’t working.” MSN News reports.
Braun noted that he’s “frustrated with your accusations and respectfully disagree with many of your statements,” but went on to add that “it is important that I am clear — no artist should ever feel cornered or bullied.”
A source told ET on Nov. 29 that Swift still had not reached out to Braun for a meeting, and she has yet to comment on the threats Braun claims to have received amid their highly public feud.