Watch the trailer for Alex Winter’s authorized and ‘definitive’ Frank Zappa documentary

Frank Zappa in ZAPPA, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo credit: Roelof Kiers. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Alex Winter’s Frank Zappa documentary was meant to screen at this year’s SXSW film festival before it was shut down to the spread of coronavirus, and will now see the light of day on November 27 via Magnolia Pictures (with a special theatrical showing on November 23).

Zappa is filled with rare archival footage of the absurdly talented and prolific singer-songwriter and is set to explore the life of one of the most boundary-pushing musicians and public figures in rock history, from his exacting studio standards to his censorship battles with The Parents Music Resource Center.

“Frank Zappa was not only a creative genius, but also a great and eloquent thinker who articulated the madness of his times with extraordinary clarity and wit,” says Alex Winter. “A legitimate maverick who lived and worked amongst other extraordinary people in historic times. Ultimately, ZAPPA is not a retro trip into the past, but a thoroughly modern exploration of a man whose worldview, art and politics were far ahead of their time, and profoundly relevant in our challenging times.”

Check out the trailer and poster below. Zappa is out on November 27.