This portrait of the duo Yello and their best known song, Oh Yeah!, is one of the best music documentaries I've ever seen. This film is just magnificent.
This is a lean mean machine of a film. It perfectly explains who the duo are (they are Dieter Meier and Boris Blank), how they make their music, and how the song Oh Yeah! became a cultural phenomenon.
I was blown away. This film does everything that a documentary should do and it does it perfectly in under 20 minutes. It delighted me, it informed me and it made me think.
This truly is as good as films can get.
One of the absolute must sees of the Tribeca Festival 2025.
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| Nick Canfield |
I loved OH YEAH! so much I reached out about doing interviews connected with the film. Because of scheduling issues (a number of them) what was going to be an in person one with the group and director Nick Canfield , became an email interview with Mr. Canfield. I had questions and I needed them answered and he graciously agreed to give me the answers I needed.
What follows are the questions I sent off for answers.
I want to thank Sara Cherson for making damn sure this happened, and I want to thank Mr Canfield for taking the time to answer my questions.
STEVE: Were you a fan of Yello before you made the film?
NICK: I knew a little about Yello before I made the film. I knew that they had made Oh Yeah and I knew a couple other songs of theirs, but I wasn't a superfan. After making the film I now appreciate and enjoy so many more of their songs.
STEVE: How did the film come together? Was the plan always to just focus on the one song or was there ever a consideration to make the film a more detailed look at the group?
NICK: I always wanted to focus on Oh Yeah and its cultural impact, as well as how it was made. Though there is much more to explore about Yello, what I got while filming led me into more of the story of one song and how it became a phenomenon after Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
STEVE: Did you have any restrictions on what you could do with the film?
NICK: Dieter Meier and Boris Blank of Yello were only able to give me so much of their time, so it wasn't really possible to make a whole feature of their story, though they were very open about their lives and careers. As their former manager says in the film, they don't take themselves too seriously, so they were very comfortable talking about their work and their legacy.
STEVE: Was there anything that you wanted to keep that you had to cut to keep the run time down.
NICK: I wanted to include more about their other songs, their origins and where they were as a band when Oh Yeah took off, but the film flowed much better in this format. That's one of the most important and difficult parts of filmmaking, "you have to kill your babies". Sometimes cutting out strong parts of the film can make the film better.
STEVE: How do you decide what films you are going to direct?
NICK: It's a combination of inspiration, access, and financial viability. Without access to the subject, the rights to a song, or the archival material you need, there is no film. Without being able to raise funding and then get a distributor interested, it's very hard to get a film made. And most importantly, you have to be passionate about the story or subject you're telling and believe you can tell it in a way nobody else can. Because the filmmaking process can be very long and full of setbacks so you need to really love making each and every film. I start with inspiration, there are a number of stories I'd like to tell, and then the other practical factors creep in and you see which projects have legs. Though I never give up on the projects I care the most about.
STEVE: The films you are associated with cover a wide variety of subjects, is there any plan to what you choose?
NICK: So far there is a music theme to all my films, but that is not by design. And all of the films are profiles of interesting people. I think the best documentaries are character driven, you have to be fascinated by and care about the main characters. Some people just have a gravitas and I am drawn to subjects who are unique individuals, people who have the courage to be totally themselves.
STEVE: You've made several music related documentaries, what are the best ones that you've seen.?
NICK:The Last Waltz and Gimme Shelter are two of the best concert films ever. I love the films of Les Blank, Always For Pleasure and A Poem Is A Naked Person are great. Recent music docs I've enjoyed include Soundtrack To A Coup D'Etat and Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted.
STEVE: Who are the filmmakers you turn to for inspiration?
NICK: I got my start in film working for the legendary Albert Maysles, so the Maysles Brothers are a big inspiration for me, as is Les Blank and Frederick Wiseman. I also get ideas from current amazing filmmakers like Margaret Brown and Brett Morgan.
STEVE: What is your next film as a director?
NICK: I am in post-production on another doc short, Five Seconds To Fly is a behind the scenes look at the dramatic sport of ski jumping, centered on an all-volunteer run olympic-sized jump in small town.
STEVE: Where is OH YEAH! going next?
NICK: We'll be playing some festivals in the fall and it will be released online at the end of this year. Can't wait for audiences to see it!
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