Ford Mustang documentary gets world premiere in NYC

The director who explored the art of making sushi has turned his lens to making cars.

"A Faster Horse" goes behind the scenes at Ford Motor to show the demanding process behind the creation of the 2015 Mustang. The redesign of the brand had a lot riding on it, both in terms of the jobs at stake and the reaction of fans to any tweaking of the iconic ride.

The documentary is the work of David Gelb, who's best known for making 2011's acclaimed "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." That film tells the story of 85-year-old Jiro Ono, an expert sushi chef and owner of a tiny eatery located in a Tokyo subway station.

Gelb transferred his interest in craftsmanship from raw fish to car culture for the movie, which was scheduled to have its world premiere Saturday at a free outdoor event at New York City's Tribeca Film Festival.

Filmed mostly in 2014, "A Faster Horse" was born from conversations between Alessandro Uzielli, the head of Ford Motor's Global Entertainment Brand, and producers Nigel Sinclair and Glen Zipper on a cinematic way to mark Mustang's 50th birthday.

Ford agreed to fund the project without requiring creative input.

"As a filmmaker myself, and as the 50th anniversary approached, Nigel and I began to talk about a creative way to capture this important milestone and bring it to life," said Uzielli Friday via e-mail. "He knew David would have the vision to humanize a cultural icon such as Mustang."

The new Mustang spurred a sales boom as well as strong reviews. It was named the Detroit Free Press Car of the Year.

What follows is a conversation (edited for space) with Gelb on chronicling the reinvention of a beloved car and creating a film that puts a chief program engineer (who jokes in the movie about using a Magic 8 Ball for decision-making) at the center of the drama .

QUESTION: How did you get involved with directing the documentary?

ANSWER: Nigel Sinclair and Glen Zipper, my producers, called me in for a meeting and wanted to talk about a film about Mustang. I'm from New York City and I didn't even have my driver's license until I was 18. I was wondering why would this be a film for me to make? But then I remembered when my dad first took me to California when I was a kid and he rented a Mustang GT. He was really kind of proud of his car, even though it was a rental. Ever since then, I've just thought Mustangs are cool. I kind of had an emotional connection to it. And everybody I talked to about making a film about Mustang had their own story. I thought it was really interesting that so many people seemed emotionally connected to a car and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Q: How did you get into the inner sanctums of design and engineering for the 2015 Mustang?

A: I give a lot of credit to Al Uzielli (an executive producer of the film), who's the grandson of Henry Ford II, and Nigel Sinclair and Glen Zipper. Nigel and Glen are very well-respected documentary producers (whose many credits include "George Harrison: Living In the Material World," directed by Martin Scorsese). I think their pedigree did a lot for it. The team at Ford, when they saw "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," understood I have an appreciation for craft and that I'm going to make something that's going to be true, and about creativity and hard work. It was a long process and it took time to gain trust and to get more doors to open. Ultimately, Ford really put their entire trust in me and I'm proud to say that the movie is very much my film. They let me do what I wanted, what the producers and I felt was right for the story. It didn't feel like they were trying to control me in any way. I'm still in shock that they were so open to letting me make the film the way I wanted to do it, and I'm grateful, frankly.

Q: Dave Pericak, chief program engineer for the 2015 Mustang, in a way is the hero or star of the film. What do you think the film says about him as a protagonist?

A: It's such a huge story and there are so many people who worked on (the Mustang), so many fans, so many angles to take on it. But for me, I'm always looking for a high-stakes situation for a creative person. And, ultimately, the buck stops with Dave. He has the legacy of 50 years of this car (to uphold). That weighs on his shoulders just as much as satisfying the fans, but, ultimately, satisfying himself because he's a die-hard Mustang fan. He loves this car. You will see in the film that he proposed to his then-girlfriend, now-wife in a Mustang. He takes this responsibility very, very seriously, but keeps a sense of humor about it. He allows the people working with him and for him to reach their full potential, because they know that he'll be there to catch them if something goes wrong. He's always encouraging all of his team to be fearless.

Q: What were your impressions of Detroit during your time here for filming?

A: We were shooting there in the winter, and it was a very cold winter. So that was a first impression stepping off the plane. But I guess the thing that really struck me was how much pride the people there did have, and the people who work in Dearborn, the incredible sense of responsibility that they feel. There's kind of a sense of going to some of the areas of Detroit and these really kind of cool, hip restaurants that are going up. Some of our crew members there were jazzed at being able to make a film that's about Detroit and about the industry there and about this product, the Mustang, that's captured the world's imagination and is made here at home. I think there's a sense of wanting to show the world that Detroit is place that will grow and reclaim its former glory. It's a beautiful community.

Q: Was there a moment when you particularly felt the stakes of the 2015 Mustang for Ford? The film makes it clear the stakes are incredibly pressurized for everyone involved.

A: There's no place that demonstrates this more powerfully than at the Flat Rock plant where the Mustangs are assembled. There is one day we were at the plant and there's a massive snowstorm. We were there to shoot the machines at work and the people bringing this whole car together. It's 2,000 parts that all need to be there at the same time, otherwise you can't roll a car off the line if one part is missing or not in the right quantity or the right quality. That day, the shipments didn't come in, so the plant was shut down. I could feel the tension and discomfort because that's a massive loss for the company. Every day they can't make cars, they're still paying for the overhead and everything. They were all trying to put on a brave face because there are cameras there. But you can feel that there's tension and that they're nervous. We were there for some of those moments when they're not 100% sure they'll make it past the finish line and those are stressful moments, for sure.

Q: Did the culture at Ford surprise you in any way? Did you go in thinking it would be something that it wasn't?

A: I really had no idea what to expect. I'd never been in the offices of a carmaker before. I went into it with no expectation but was moved by (the fact) that it was like a big family there. They welcomed us in as part of their team. Driving on test drives in Arizona, it's awesome to be there. It's one of the best things about being a documentary filmmaker, that you get to transport yourself into someone else's life.

Q: What's next for the movie after the Tribeca Film Festival premiere?

A: The film does not have a distributor yet. This is the part of the process in which we show it to all the various distributors who could potentially put it out in theaters or put it on as an on-demand offering. I think the movie should be shown in movie theaters because it's a big story. Our cinematogrpahy is really beautiful. I think that's the best way to viscerally experience it. Our hope is that a lot of people will come and enjoy it and that it will find its way into movie theaters all over the country. That's the dream.

Contact Detroit Free Press writer Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

'A Faster Horse'

Scheduled for world premiere April 18 at Tribeca Film Festival

No Detroit-area screenings have been announced; not yet scheduled for theatrical distribution