“Love, Antosha,” a documentary about the life and career of actor Anton Yelchin, is coming out almost three years after his death — and Yelchin’s parents wanted his story to be told as soon as possible.
“The sooner the better, because we truly feel that Anton is alive and we want him to keep on living,” Irina Yelchin told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven at the Sundance Film Festival.
“We live in a world that moves on very quickly and we just don’t want him to be forgotten,” added Garret Price, the film’s director.
“He’s always with us,” Irina Yelchin added. “It’s hard to say we love this film. We do love this film but it’s a film about our son who is far away. So we do love this film and we love what Garret did.”
In June 2016, Yelchin was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled back while he was behind it, pinning him between a mailbox and a security fence. The car was under a recall notice, which was sent to Yelchin’s home a week later, with Chrysler notifying users of a faulty gear shifter that Yelchin’s parents later claimed was responsible for his death. His parents later reached a settlement with Fiat Chrysler.
“They let me tell both sides of the story and that makes it feel so real and authentic and relatable to people and inspiring,” added Price. “Anton had a dark side too, like all of us, and he believed in honesty in his art, and I think that reflects the film itself.”
He added: “It’s a film about life and living life to the fullest and Anton is the definition of that.”
Watch the video above.