Netflix orders original Nina Simone doc

Netflix and FremantleMedia-backed producer RadicalMedia are making What Happened Miss Simone?, an original feature doc about iconic American singer Nina Simone.

The film comes from director Liz Garbus (Bobby Fischer Against the World) and will launch as a Netflix original across all territories in which the streaming service operates, next year.

It will trace trace the singer’s journey from poverty in the American South, to her defining role in the civil rights movement, musical success and, finally, her self-imposed exile in France.

RadicalMedia cut a deal with the estate of Simone last year, giving it over 100 hours of exclusive and never seen before footage of the singer, who died in 2003, and Netflix has now come on board as the exclusive partner.