Amy Winehouse Documentary "Contains Basic Untruths," Says Family

Father Mitch Winehouse says he "felt sick" when he first saw 'Amy,' which will premiere in Cannes, and said he would consider legal action.

With Cannes’ special screening and world premiere of the Amy Winehouse doc Amy just a few weeks away, the family of the late singer has spoken out against the film.

In a statement Monday, a spokesman said that the family wanted to "disassociate themselves" from Amy, directed by British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, who was behind Senna, the acclaimed 2010 documentary about late Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna.

"They feel that the film is a missed opportunity to celebrate her life and talent and that it is both misleading and contains some basic untruths," the spokesman said, adding that there were allegations made in the doc against the family and management that were "unfounded and unbalanced."

"The narrative is formed by the testimony of a narrow sample of Amy’s associates, many of whom had nothing to do with her in the last years of her life," they said. "By misunderstanding the condition and its treatment, the film suggests for instance that not enough was done for Amy, that her family and management pushed her into performing or did not do enough to help her."

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, claimed that he “felt sick” when he first saw the film. "Amy would be furious. This is not what she would have wanted," he said. "I am painted as being an absent father during her last years. It gives the impression the family weren’t there."

Mitch Winehouse also claimed that the filmmakers "had a pretty good idea of the film they wanted to make from the off" and on Monday told BBC radio that he would look to "sue for damages" if the film cut screened at Cannes was shown to misrepresent him.

In response to the initial statement, the filmmakers claimed they came on board with the "full backing of the Winehouse family" and approached the project with "total objectivity."

“During the production process, we conducted in the region of 100 interviews with people that knew Amy Winehouse; friends, family, former partners and members of the music industry that worked with her," they said. "The story that the film tells is a reflection of our findings from these interviews."