Documentary film Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is in cinemas now, with the film charting the life of actor and Superman star Christopher Reeve.

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The film delves into Reeve's experiences after a horse riding accident that left him paralysed, and how he worked as an activist for disability rights.

RadioTimes.com spoke to the film's directors, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, who revealed the one note that they got when making the documentary from Reeve's children Matthew, Alexandra and Will.

Ettedgui said: "It's interesting, because that was a note that we… the three kids really left us to make the film that we wanted to make. But obviously, they saw it sort of, like, towards the end of the edit.

"And the one note that we had from Will was, 'Guys, remember that we were just also a normal family, and we had a lot of laughs, and there was a lot of good humour in the house and so on.'

"And that was a really fantastic note to have as we went into that final pass, because we, you know, we love humour."

Director Peter Ettedgui, Will Reeve and director Ian Bonhote in the documentary feature Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story standing together smiling into camera
Director Peter Ettedgui, Will Reeve and director Ian Bonhote in the documentary feature Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Warner Bros

Ettedgui continued: "I mean, when we made McQueen, we just relished hearing laughter in the audience. But it was a good sort of, like, exaltation for us just to go back and to really make sure that we time those moments and had those moments and just [found] more moments in the archive."

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Bonhôte added: "You want that emotional contrast between, you know, [in] no one's life there's only tears. Do you see what I mean? And I think people would dry up too quickly if there was only tears. They they need to, you know, laugh."

Matthew, Alexandra and Will all feature in the film, which also includes interviews with Reeve's brother Kevin Johnson, his former partner Gae Exton, actors Jeff Daniels, Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close and Whoopi Goldberg and more.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is in UK cinemas from today.

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Authors

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

Patrick Cremona, RadioTimes.com's senior film writer looking at the camera and smiling
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

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