London (AP) – A documentary about singer Amy Winehouse has won an Academy Award, but her father isn’t celebrating.
Mitch Winehouse said that it’s “fantastic” that people still love his daughter, who died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 at age 27.
But he says Asif Kapadia’s film “Amy,” which won the best-documentary Oscar this year, “has no bearing on her life, apart from the fact she was born and unfortunately she passed away — everything in between is basically fabricated.”
Mitch Winehouse, father of singer Amy Winehouse, poses for a photo during an interview with the Associated Press in London, Tuesday, March 1. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Mitch Winehouse has been a vocal critic of the film since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May. He told The Associated Press that he “went mad — I was throwing things at the screen” when he first saw Kapadia’s documentary, which includes interviews with friends, family members and fellow musicians.
The documentary suggests that people close to Amy — and the media — unwittingly contributed to her struggles with addiction and fame. The soul diva, whose 2006 album “Back to Black” won five Grammy Awards, battled drug and alcohol abuse for years before her death.
Some viewers have criticized her father for appearing to deter her from going to rehab. He said that impression is inaccurate.
“We did our best in our own way as a family to nurture Amy and to help her,” he said.
“You know, maybe there were times I could’ve been stronger, but when you love someone you love someone and that’s the bottom line.”
Winehouse claims the documentary paints his daughter as having “a lonely, sad and very unhappy last three years.” He says nothing could be further from the truth.
“She had a wonderful boyfriend, they were planning to get married, they were planning to have children,” he said. “She had wonderful friends. I’m not talking about the dregs of society that I used to go around and throw out in 2007-2008 — these were wonderful people that were with her.”
Winehouse says he plans his own film about his daughter — under the working title “Letter to Amy” — which will feature friends, family, fans and famous people sharing letters, poems, songs or messages to the late singer.
