Steven Soderbergh’s AI-Enhanced Documentary on John Lennon Premieres at Cannes

Steven Soderbergh’s feature-length documentary *John Lennon: The Last Interview* premiered in a special Cannes session. The film presents the complete 2 hours 45 minutes radio interview Lennon gave with Yoko Ono on 8 December 1980—his final public conversation before his assassination—condensed into a 90-minute narrative. While 90 percent of the visuals are archival photographs and stills, Soderbergh intersperses roughly ten minutes of AI-generated imagery to illustrate philosophical passages.

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The interview was recorded for San Francisco’s KFRC radio station to promote the *Double Fantasy* album, released three weeks earlier. Lennon and Ono discussed music, politics, fatherhood and their renewed partnership. The conversation, lasting nearly three hours, was broadcast only in excerpts after Lennon’s murder; the full tape had remained unreleased for four-and-a-half decades until Soderbergh’s production secured the family’s cooperation.

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• Steven Soderbergh – Director, editor, and primary advocate for transparent AI use.

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• Sean Lennon – John’s son, who attended the Cannes screening accompanied by a lawyer.

The Sydney Morning Herald

• Meta – Financial partner providing MetaAI tools for the generative images.

El Pais

• Cate Blanchett – Co-founder of RSL Media, a nonprofit developing international consent standards for AI-generated imagery.

The Sydney Morning Herald

• Nancy Saslow – Producer who uncovered the interview rights and oversaw archival research.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Soderbergh compiled more than 1,000 family-album photographs. He employed AI to create “thematic surreal” visuals—such as a caveman representing relational missteps and a montage of squalling babies symbolising 1960s-era frustration. According to the director, 90 % of the film’s visuals are archival; the AI segments occupy 10 minutes spread across the runtime, each aligning with moments when Lennon and Ono discuss abstract concepts.

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Soderbergh emphasized that AI should remain a “piece of technology” rather than a substitute for human creators, insisting that its deployment be accompanied by clear disclosure of intent. He noted Meta’s technical support while underscoring the need for industry-wide consent frameworks, a goal championed by RSL Media. The director also described his workflow as requiring “very close human supervision” of the generative process.

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Janice Min, former Hollywood Reporter editor and CEO of Ankler Media, warned that “the thing with AI right now in Hollywood: everyone’s lying just a little bit,” highlighting a broader culture of secrecy. The controversy surrounding *The Brutalist*—which faced backlash for AI-enhanced accent work—has intensified scrutiny of AI’s role in film production.

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Sources differ on the precise proportion of AI-generated content: one description calls it a “handful of fantasy images,” while another quantifies it as ten minutes of visuals. Additionally, while the original interview lasted 2 h 45 min, the documentary’s edited version runs 90 minutes, leaving the selection criteria for included segments undocumented.

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• “I’m not worried personally that this thing will ever be near a human, that it will ever replace a human in my world.” — Steven Soderbergh, Director

The Sydney Morning Herald

• “AI has been helpful in creating thematically surreal images that occupy a dream space rather than a literal space,” — Steven Soderbergh, Director

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• “Transparency is so important (in) that the world outside of the creative context, we’re not aware of the extent that this is being used and used to manipulate us.” — Steven Soderbergh, AP interview

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• “The thing with AI right now in Hollywood: Everyone’s lying just a little bit,” — Janice Min, CEO of Ankler Media

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• “I think he was hearing a lot of this for the first time, which must have been very strange,” — Steven Soderbergh, about Sean Lennon

The Sydney Morning Herald

• “I’ll be first in line for that,” — Steven Soderbergh, on future AI-driven projects

The Sydney Morning Herald

Soderbergh announced plans to employ “a lot of AI” in an upcoming film starring Wagner Moura, set during the Spanish-American War, signaling a continued commitment to exploring generative technology under a transparent framework.

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