Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Michael Kovac/Tribeca Film Festival
Topics: Music, Mental Health, News, Film and TV, Documentaries
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Music, Mental Health, News, Film and TV, Documentaries
A heartbreaking new documentary on Avicii's life will look into the late DJ's final days.
Avicii, who was best known for tracks like 'Lonely Together', 'Wake Me Up' and 'Waiting For Love' (to name a few), tragically took his own life in 2018 at the age of 28.
Real name Tim Bergling, the music legend was born in Sweden and found worldwide success with his 2011 track 'Levels'. The song made it in the Top 10 in several countries' charts at the time.
Advert
Now, six years on from his untimely passing, a new documentary titled Avicii: I'm Tim is set to be released.
It recently made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and sees accounts from Bergling himself, as well as some of his close friends and family.
Part of the documentary's synopsis reads, as per the Tribeca Film Festival website: "In 2011, Avicii took the world by storm with his groundbreaking hits, setting records and captivating audiences with his infectious electronic dance music.
"Tim Bergling’s unlikely story is handled with passion and understanding in this film directed by 2020 Tribeca alum Henrik Burman (Yung Lean: In My Head), diving deep into Avicii's meteoric rise to fame."
The documentary shows 'never-before-seen tour footage and behind-the-scenes glimpses of his creative process', allowing viewers to become 'immersed in the high-energy world of EDM and the massive concerts that became synonymous with Avicii's name'.
The documentary looks into the Swedish music-maker's mental health struggles; anxiety in particular.
Part of the programme sees Avicii say that he was 'killing himself' with his relentless touring schedule. He performed more than 800 shows in just six years.
Elsewhere in the film, Bergling says: "I went from being young, from school, to touring."
The documentary also sees his friend Jesse Waits, the managing partner of Las Vegas nightclub XS, recall what Avicii was like in the run up to his passing.
He tells the moviemakers, as per Mail Online: "I realized he was taking painkillers. I grew up with family that did drugs and I saw when people do opiates their eyes change. The pin, the little black parts of their eyes."
He continued to share in a devastating admission: "His eyes were wide open like a zombie, he was not there. At the dinner, his demeanor changed and his eyes dilated.
"That changed everything, those pills change how you act and how you feel. You wake up feeling like s*** and have to have another one to feel good.
"For him it was to suppress his anxiety but it just created more anxiety."
A wider release for the moving documentary is yet to be confirmed.
People online have since reacted to the news of the film and hailed it as 'heartbreaking'.
"This is so sad," said another of Avicii: I'm Tim, as a third went on to say that they will 'never get over this death'.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.