Two younger Londoners — one in all Greek Cypriot origin, the opposite of Egyptian descent — arrange a pop band within the Eighties that goes on to promote greater than 30 million information. They break up a number of years later, on the pinnacle of their fame, when the 2 hit the ripe previous age of 23.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of Wham!, the British pop duo, and its two stars, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. It’s a narrative that the director Chris Smith tells in a Netflix documentary, which is nominated in Sunday’s EE British Academy Movie Awards, often called the BAFTAs.

Different contenders within the documentary class embrace “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” in regards to the actor’s battle with Parkinson’s illness; and “American Symphony,” a 12 months within the lifetime of the musician Jon Batiste.

Smith beforehand directed the Emmy-nominated 2019 documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” a couple of fraudulent music competition that landed its organizer in jail.

Two years earlier, he directed “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” on the making of the 1999 film “Man on the Moon,” through which Jim Carrey performed the entertainer Andy Kaufman.

Smith stated that he was approached to shoot “Wham!” by its producers. There isn’t a narrator: The story is instructed utilizing documentary footage of the duo throughout their profession, paired with audio excerpts from interviews with the 2 pop stars themselves, that are voiced over — Michael died in 2016 at 53.

Structuring the documentary are pages from a scrapbook that Ridgeley’s mom diligently put collectively in the course of the band’s heyday, recording each little occasion within the Wham! trajectory. That scrapbook, with its glued lettering and newspaper cutouts, punctuates the totally different segments within the 92-minute documentary.

In a current video dialog, Smith mentioned the making of “Wham!” and his emotions in regards to the band. The interview has been edited and condensed.

How did “Wham!” come about?

I used to be approached by the producers to do it. I had come off a run of doing loads of true crime tasks, so it felt actually thrilling to do a documentary about one thing so simple as a friendship.

I had a really floor understanding of Wham! as a band. I had seen these white T-shirts with the letters on them, and knew the music vaguely, solely since you couldn’t escape it. However apart from that, I didn’t actually know something.

It was a tremendous story, simply sitting there, that had by no means been instructed: George and Andrew’s story. I didn’t know that the band solely lasted 4 years, that they walked away once they felt like they have been getting too previous — they usually have been solely 23!

I assume you didn’t take heed to Wham! within the ’80s?

The place I used to be dwelling in Michigan, children have been turning their noses up at Wham! I used to be a snide teenager, listening to the Treatment, Depeche Mode, that kind of new wave factor.

Precisely. So I’m stunned that you simply took on this documentary.

I used to show my nostril up at Jim Carrey films, too. When Jim Carrey was on the peak of his reputation, I used to be watching overseas movies, artwork movies and early American cinema. But I directed the “Jim & Andy” documentary with Carrey. It opened my thoughts: Even when his films weren’t ones that I used to be fascinated with, the story behind them and his journey have been fascinating to me.

So when the chance to direct “Wham!” got here up, I spotted that the music was irrelevant, and that I ought to actually open my thoughts to see if there was an fascinating story behind the music. I used to be extremely grateful to have been introduced into that world.

Why grateful?

As a result of it was top-of-the-line tasks I’ve been part of, from a artistic standpoint. I liked spending time on this planet of Wham! Understanding George and Andrew and their trajectory gave me a brand new appreciation and understanding for the music that I didn’t have earlier than. It was so optimistic, so enjoyable, and about one thing that was equally profound as the rest I used to be engaged on. But it surely was all beneath the guise of one thing that felt extra superficial.

Do you just like the music now?

Sure, I like the music, and I didn’t earlier than. For me, it was having my eyes opened to the songwriting genius that George Michael was.

How does it really feel to be nominated for a BAFTA with this film?

I take a look at the film as a mirrored image of George and Andrew, and their spirit.

The place did you supply the interviews for the documentary?

We did 4 or 5 new interviews with Andrew, however within the case of George, we have been in a position to pull every thing from the archives: from interviews that he had performed through the years.

You describe “Wham!” because the story of a friendship. It’s additionally the story of a younger man, George Michael, who’s homosexual, however unable to be open and public about it.

Sure, the die was solid. When George understood his sexuality and revealed it to Andrew, the tip of Wham! was set in stone, as a result of he couldn’t proceed. He had created a jail of his personal making.

Does Andrew have any regrets that his profession didn’t flourish the way in which George’s did?

I by no means bought any sense of Andrew feeling bitter. For those who get to know Andrew, and see him within the archive footage within the film, he enjoys dwelling within the second. He was completely happy to have gone on the trip, completely happy to have been a part of the journey. He’s all the time the place he needs to be, and benefiting from that state of affairs.

Do you see this story as a tragedy, particularly given George Michael’s untimely loss of life?

I discover it to be bittersweet. I cry each time I see the film. I discover it extremely emotional — within the sense that it’s one thing that needed to finish, however you didn’t need it to finish.

It’s a tragedy within the sense that youth is finite.