Beyoncé Hopes HBO Documentary Inspires Blue Ivy
Hope you haven’t had your fill of Beyoncé yet! The superstar’s 2013 all-powerful promo push continued on Tuesday night (Feb. 12), when Bey screened her documentary Life Is But a Dream at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan four days before its premiere on HBO.
Using home movies and personal conversations the singer recorded on her computer, the 90-minute autobiographical film gives an intimate inside look at her life, love and career, from daughter Blue Ivy’s delivery room to husband Jay-Z’s birthday dinner. In the film, which Beyoncé executive-produces and co-directs (with frequent collaborator Ed Burke), the 31-year old, whose long kept her private life out of the spotlight, candidly discusses personal matters, including her miscarriage, her pregnancy and firing her father as her manager.
"I felt that after 16 years of being a public singer, people didn't know who I was," she told the AP at the Ziegfeld on Tuesday.
Beyoncé says making the introspective film was therapeutic. "I really grew so much," she said. "This movie has really been my therapy. I've healed from so many wounds and I've been able to understand why some of the things I've been through, why I went through [them]. So [I] feel really proud, and hopefully I can inspire other people."
Particularly her one-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy. "I hope that she will see all of the beautiful times [and] all the tough times that led up to her being here," the singer said. "I'm hoping that ... it can comfort her and inspire her in her life when she needs it."
Oprah Winfrey, who's set to host Beyoncé on Saturday's episode of Oprah's Next Chapter, also made a surprise appearance at the screening, posing with the singer on the red carpet. Winfrey praised Life Is But a Dream.
"What I thought [of the documentary] was, 'This is so empowering, so great!'” she told MTV. “There's a moment where [Beyoncé] said she did this because she wanted to learn how to trust herself and how to be more honest and how to grow — well, that's what everybody's trying to do.”
Oprah also previewed the film with nine graduates of her girls' school in South Africa. “When we finished, all my girls said, 'She's just like us!' And I went, sorta," she said with a laugh.
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(Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)