Everybody Digs Bill Evans premiered this weekend at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, where it is competing for the Golden Bear. Instead of a conventional biopic, director Grant Gee opted for a restrained, introspective look at one of the darkest periods in the jazz pianist’s life. The death of his colleague Scott LaFaro sends Evans on a path of quiet but relentless self-destruction that Evans’s family is desperate to pull him out of, but seems ill-equipped to handle.
(From left) Danielsen Lie, British film director Grant Gee and US actor Bill Pullman pose during a photo call for the film ‘Everybody Digs Bill’ presented in competition at the 76th Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, in Berlin.
BERLIN, Germany: A film about legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans that focuses on one of the most traumatic periods of his often torturous life got its premiere Friday at the Berlin Film Festival.
The film, which is shot in black-and-white, borrows its title from one of Evans’s early albums: ‘Everybody digs Bill Evans.’
Directed by Britain’s Grant Gee, it stars Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie as Evans who died in 1980 at the age of 51.
The film focuses on the period following the death in 1961 of bassist Scott LaFaro in a car accident just days after the Evans trio had finished recording their residency at the Village Vanguard – now considered classic records.
Evans, grief-stricken, stopped playing for several months, mourning the loss of his friend and relapsing into heroine use. A visit to his parents in Florida – played by Hollywood veterans Bill Pullman and Laurie Metcalf – is the catalyst to him getting his life back on track again.
But as Danielsen Lie observed, this was just one of a series of crises in the life of the musician, who struggled for years with his addiction to hard drugs.
“One of the things that’s been said about Bill Evans is that it was the longest suicide in history,” said Danielsen Lie.
“And that is partly true, because there is an immense amount of self-destructive behaviour in this biography,” he added.
“But at the same time, he was also very alive… He really enjoyed his art and what he was doing, which is kind of contradictory. It contradicts the total mess and chaos that his life was at many stages along the way.”
‘Everybody digs Bill Evans’ is based on Welsh writer Owen Martell’s novel, ‘Intermission,’ adapted for the screen by Ireland’s Mark O’Halloran.
It was O’Halloran who chose to put Evans’s partner Ellaine Schultz – who shared his addiction – back into the story. Although she does not feature in the novel, he told AFP that for him she was one of the emotional keys to ‘the journey that Bill goes on with her and the others around her.’
Valene Kane, who plays Schultz, agreed. “I think you always need the love story,” she told journalists with a smile.
“It’s one of the most important life forces we have, for me. I love love, we all love love.”
https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the-borneo-post/20260215/282454240446081
A film about legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans that focuses on one of the most traumatic periods of his often torturous life got its premiere Friday at the Berlin Film
Source: Berlin premiere for pic on jazz piano legend Bill Evans
Hollywood veteran Bill Pullman has a supporting role as Evans’s father
Source: Hollywood veteran Bill Pullman has a supporting role as Evans’s father
Posted: 20th January 2026
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate director Grant Gee, screenwriter Mark O’Halloran and the entire creative team behind Irish film Everybody Digs Bill Evans on its selection for the 2026 Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale). The film will receive its World Premiere in official Competition at the festival.
Based on the book Intermission by Owen Martell, Everybody Digs Bill Evans stars Bill Pullman, Irish actors Barry Ward and Katie McGrath, and Laurie Metcalf. In June 1961, New York City, the legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans forms his perfect trio and records two of the greatest jazz records of all time in one night. Central to the success of this project is Evan’s soul mate and bass player Scott LaFaro. Ten days later, LaFaro dies in a car crash. Numb with grief, Evans stops playing.
The film is produced by Alan Maher for Cowtown Pictures, Janine Marmot for Hot Property Films, and is supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, the UK Global Screen Fund, Over The Fence Films, Finite Films, Shoni Productions and OnSight. Worldwide sales are being handled by Mister Smith Entertainment, with CAA co-repping US rights, and Irish distributor Break Out Pictures has acquired UK-Ireland distribution.
The Berlinale is one of the largest public film festivals in the world, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe each year. Irish film has found critical and audience acclaim at the festival in recent years, including Christy, Small Things Like These and Colm Bairéad’s An Cailín Ciúin.
The 76th edition of the Berlinale will run February 12th to 22nd.
Source: Irish film Everybody Digs Bill Evans to receive World Premiere in Competition at the 2026 Berlinale
By Riley Utley published 2026-01-03T23:06:00Z
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Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
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