For BBC 1 the production company Matchlight produces a documentary about the famous actress Audrey Hepburn. As a young woman she lived in Arnhem, in the far east of the Netherlands. Former English dancer Darcey Bussel presents the documentary. Behind Audrey Hepburn’s dazzling image, Bussell unravels an epic tale of betrayal, courage, heartache and broken dreams.
For as long as she can remember, Darcey has been fascinated by Audrey Hepburn – style icon, star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and an Oscar winner at 24. Now, Darcey follows in Audrey’s footsteps through Holland, London, Rome, Switzerland and Hollywood to find out more. She discovers that Audrey started out as a dancer, risked her life in the Second World War and, although adored the world over, was always looking for love.
Hepburn arrived in the Netherlands just before the Second world war and experienced German occupation and the traumatic end of the war in Arnhem, known from movies like a ‘Bridge too far’. This period in her live must have had a large influence on her.
Darcey Bussel visits the local theatre where Audrey Hepburn danced as a young girl. She visits an old villa where Hepburn’s grandparents lived and the ‘Battle of Arnhem’ Airborne museum in the nearby town Oosterbeek. Since all the trams were destroyed in the war, the director films Bussel in the only historic tram left in the Arnhem Open Air museum.
For the filming in the Netherlands for this documentary Featurez researched protagonists and locations, did the final setup and planning, booked a rental van and did the driving, accompanied the filming and research researched restaurants for lunches and dinners.
This BBC documentary is published on the Featurez.com video page.