Anthony Bourdain’s Life And Career Will Be The Focus Of A Documentary By An Oscar-Winning Director

Anthony Bourdain, best known for his body of work on CNN and The Food Network, will be the focus of a new documentary from Focus Features, CNN Films, and HBO Max. Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville will be at the helm.

Neville won an Academy Award in 2014 for the music documentary, 20 Feet From Stardom, which detailed the stories of some of the most iconic backup singers in music industry.

Bourdain, who used music as a key element to drive forward the stories he told as the star and writer of episodes of CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown likely would have loved that Neville is at the helm of this particular project due to his expertise in the genre.

Us Weekly reported that the film will set on the chef’s “uncommon life.”

The publication quoted Neville as remarking, “Anthony Bourdain did more to help us understand each other than just about anyone in the history of television.”

“He connected with people not in spite of his flaws, but because of them. To have the opportunity to tell his story is humbling.”

The film, per Us Weekly, will also have access to some of the most important elements left behind by the late chef via the Bourdain estate. The filmmaker will be given access to some of Bourdain’s private papers, family photos and other memorabilia. These artifacts should give the film a deeper understanding of the man fans believed to be both a tough and a gentle soul who devoted his life to a deeper understanding of how food creates a common ground between people.

The film will also enlist the assistance of Lydia Tenaglia and Christopher Collins, two of the people who worked the closest to the chef for the better part of almost 20 years. Theywill be consulting producers on the film, as will the late chef’s agent and literary executor, Kimberly Witherspoon.

The film will be released in theaters first, before being shown on CNN, per Us Weekly.

Anthony Bourdain died while shooting an episode of Parts Unknown alongside longtime friend, chef Eric Ripert in Kaysersberg, a small village in the Alsace region of France. The official cause of death was suicide.

The New York Times reported that Ripert waited for Bourdain to meet him for dinner the evening of his death, but the chef did not show up. Ripert believed that his friend might have gone somewhere else for a meal and did not contact him, according to the publication.

It was when the chef did not show up for breakfast the next morning that Ripert called his cell phone and a receptionist went to his room to check on Bourdain, finding him unresponsive.

At the time of his death, Anthony Bourdain was 61-years-old. He is survived by one daughter, Ariane, from his marriage to Ottavia Busia.

It has been undetermined when the documentary detailing Bourdain’s life will be released in theaters.

The Inquisitr previously reported about an online auction of 200 of the late chef’s possessions took place with which the proceeds benefited The Culinary Institute of America, Bourdain alma mater. He graduated from the school in 1978.

Episodes of Parts Unknown can still be viewed on CNN.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.