By Tara Kyle and Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A new documentary detailing John Lennon's love affair with New York City will premiere at the New York Film Festival Saturday night, just a few weeks before what would have been the musician's 70th birthday.
The film, "LENNONYC," takes an intimate look at Lennon's time living in Manhattan with wife Yoko Ono and their son, Sean, during the 1970's.
Although the period was one of Lennon's most prolific, both musically and politically, LENNONYC director, producer and writer, Michael Epstein, says it had never been captured in a single narrative.
The new film, which is part of PBS's "American Masters" series, attempts to do just that, using the city itself as a lens.
"If you looked at John just as a politician, the rock n' roll part fell away; if you looked at John just as a rock n' roller, then the sort of private, domestic side fell away," Epstein said.
"But New York City was a kind of filmmaking lens that you could apply to John's life…and it encapsulated everything."
Susan Lacy, who created the "American Masters" series and produced "LENNONYC," said she thinks the film may have a special significance for Lennon fans who came of age during his period in New York.
“Just as the generation that had grown up with the Beatles was getting a little older and approaching a transitional time in their lives as they started families, they saw this reflected in Lennon as he grew from being a rock star icon into a real flesh and blood person,” Lacy explained in a statement.
Lennon moved to Manhattan in 1971 and died here nine years later, after being shot in front of The Dakota apartment building.
He wrote some of his most acclaimed solo songs, including "I'm Losing You" and "Woman," from inside the Upper West Side apartment, according to the statement.
"LENNONYC" will be screened at 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday as part of the New York Film Festival, and at 9 p.m. on Monday, November 22 on PBS.
