Avicii’s life and death back in the spotlight with new documentary

More than six years after his death at the age of 28, the life of the Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Avicii is being celebrated in a new documentary,

“Avicii- I Am Tim” is now streaming on Netflix. Avicii, who was born Tim Bergling, narrates the film through archival footage.

“Before Avicii, there was Tim,” reads the Netflix description of the project. “Through his own words, witness how a prodigious musical talent became one of the defining artists of his generation.”

The film’s director, Henrik Burman, explained to Billboard why he told the story in Bergling’s own words.

“When I determined that he’d be the one who’d narrate this story, I thought that maybe it was how I could be close to him,” Burman said. “Maybe that’s how I can meet him.”

A longtime music journalist and musician in Sweden, Burman had the blessing of Bergling’s family and was fortunate to find a trove of interviews with Bergling over the course of his career to draw from.

“He’d say things like, ‘If there’s a documentary, we need to talk about alcohol; we need to talk about the bad things in my life,’” Burman said. “I’ve been looking for clues like this — I’ve listened to Tim for hours and hours trying to understand him and put together the puzzle of who he was as a person and who Avicii was as this amazing artist.”

Bergling died by suicide while on holiday in Muscat, Oman. The film explores his struggles with mental health and substance abuse, including journal entries from the Stockholm-born artist when he sought treatment.

“Those days in hospital were the most anxiety and stress-free days I can remember in the past six years, those were my true vacations, as depressing as it might sound,” he wrote.

The posthumous Avicii album “Tim” was released in 2019.

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