''Tina'' is an 2021

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, directed by Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin. It follows the life and career of musician

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

on March 2, 2021. It was released in the United States on March 27, 2021, by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, and in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2021, by

Altitude Film Distribution Altitude Film Distribution is a British film distribution company, part of the Altitude Film Entertainment group. The parent company was launched in 2012 by Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke. Altitude Film Entertainment is vertically int ...

Synopsis

The film follows the life and career of musician

, with Turner appearing in the film alongside

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

Kurt Loder Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...

Katori Hall Katori Hall (born May 10, 1981) is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, actress, and director from Memphis, Tennessee. Hall's best known works include the hit television series '' P-Valley'', the Tony-nominated '' Tina: The Tina Turner ...

, Erwin Bach, Carl Arrington,

Jimmy Thomas Jimmy Thomas (January 20, 1939 – April 25, 2022) was an American soul singer and songwriter. He was best known as a vocalist for Ike Turner. Thomas joined Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1958, and remained with the band when the Ike & Tina T ...

, Le'Juene Fletcher, Rhonda Graam, Roger Davies and

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

. In a March 2021 interview with ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'', Turner described the film as a parallel story to her memoir '' Happiness Becomes You'', which was released in December 2020 by Atria Books. The film is dedicated to Tina Turner's son Craig Turner and to Rhonda Graam who was Tina Turner's close friend, road manager and personal assistant for over 45 years.

Production

In May 2018, it was announced Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin would direct the film, with Tina Turner set to participate with

set to distribute in the United Kingdom.

Release

''Tina'' had its world premiere at the

on March 2, 2021. It was released in the United States on March 27, 2021, by

. The film drew 1.1 million viewers, the best ratings for an HBO documentary since ''

Leaving Neverland ''Leaving Neverland'' is a 2019 documentary film directed and produced by the British filmmaker Dan Reed. It focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused as children by the American singer Michael Ja ...

'' (2019), which had 1.3 million viewers tune into part one. It was released in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2021, by

, and simulcast on

Sky Documentaries Sky Documentaries is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 May 2020. Sky Documentaries broadcasts imported programming from US networks HBO and Showtime, alongside new original p ...

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

distributed the documentary elsewhere.

Reception

Upon its premiere at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival, the film received positive reviews from critics. The

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 92% of 86 reviews of the film were positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads, "''Tina'' recounts the ups and downs of the singer's life with startling candor and insight, providing an inspiring testament to resilience." Reportedly, Turner's son Ronnie Turner and his wife

Afida Turner Afida Turner (born Hafidda Messaï on December 22, 1976) is a French media personality. In 2007, she married musician Ronnie Turner. In 2011, she released the singles ''Come With Me'', followed by ''Born an Angel'', from her studio album ''Paris ...

felt the film was "well done" in that it "credited Ike for his success as a singer-songwriter." The couple, as well as Turner's adopted sons Ike Turner Jr. and Michael Turner, were disappointed that her sons were not asked to be involved in the film and it didn't examine Turner's estranged relationship with her children.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Black Reel Award for Outstanding Television Documentary or Special 2021 films 2021 documentary films American documentary films British documentary films HBO documentary films Universal Pictures films Documentary films about African Americans Tina Turner 2020s English-language films 2020s American films 2020s British films