Junun, a documentary that Paul Thomas Anderson made on the sly, will premiere exclusively on subscription streaming platform MUBI on October 9, one day after it opens at the New York Film Festival, Variety reports.
The documentary follows Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood—who scored Inherent Vice, The Master, and There Will Be Blood—and Israeli musician Shye Ben Tzur as they travel to a 15th century fortress in northwestern India to record an album. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and a group of Indian musicians also tag along to the exotic jam session. A MUBI statement says that the results “deliver the close camaraderie of artistic collaboration and a sonic, visual, and sensory experience that will capture your imagination.”
Both Anderson and Greenwood seem to be in the midst of creative periods that many find downright esoteric: Anderson’s last two films—Inherent Vice and The Master—are probably his least accessible, and folks are still begging Radiohead to make something straightforward like The Bends again. (Many fans haven’t even followed Greenwood’s kaleidoscopic solo career, which includes an excursion into dub reggae.) The collaboration will undoubtedly lead to an unconventional final product, which makes the documentary well suited for MUBI, a curated database of only 30 distinctive, decidedly non-commercial films at any given time.
Anderson noted, “We’re huge fans of MUBI and wanted to be a part of what they do. Hopefully people will discover both the music that’s been made by Shye and Jonny and a great place to watch films.”