Framing Britney Spears Documentary to delve into Free Britney case
A trailer for a new documentary titled Framing Britney Spears, which addresses the US singer’s conservatorship, has landed online.
The film, made by the The New York Times, promises to chart her rise to pop stardom and the subsequent controversy over her welfare.
Britney’s father Jamie Spears has been her conservator for 12 years, due to concerns about her mental health.
In November, she lost a legal attempt to remove his control over her estate.
The legal battle has been played out against the backdrop of the #FreeBritney movement, led by fans who believe Spears is being controlled against her will.
Mr Spears has defended his role, telling CNN he is “protecting” his daughter from “those with self-serving interests and those who seek to harm her”.
- Britney Spears’ father defends conservator role
- Britney Spears loses bid to halt father’s control
Framing Britney Spears will appear on the US network FX and streaming site Hulu on 5 February.
The announcement from Red Arrow Studios, parent company of co-producers Left/Right, said it would feature interviews with people close to Spears and lawyers involved in her conservatorship, who “now reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life”.
Her case has turned “into a Kafkaesque court battle that has reawakened her fandom and raised pressing questions about mental health and an individuals’ rights”, it added.
The film promises to re-examine her career and “offers a new assessment of the movement rallying against her court-mandated conservatorship, capturing the unsavoury dimensions of the American pop-star machine”.
The 30-second trailer features interviewees saying her treatment has been “disgusting”, and that the star “accepted that the conservatorship was going to happen, but she didn’t want her father to be the conservator”.
Fans seized upon the trailer. One wrote on Twitter: “I truly hope and even pray that this doc’s in Britney’s favour. She 110% deserves her freedom and happiness. The world has chewed her up and spat her out but she’s remained humble, beautiful and kind, every damn time.”
Spears broke through as a teenager with hits in the late 90s and noughties, including Baby One More Time, Oops! I Did it Again and Toxic, before personal struggles threatened to derail her career.
