In April UChicagoʼs Film Studies Center hosted a screening of the 2002 film Stages: Three Days in Mexico on the streaming service Twitch. The hour-long documentary was directed by Judy Hoffman, professor of practice in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies, in collaboration with Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens). Although the film is not in distribution as of press time, it has been written about in Vanity Fair (“The Shockingly Melancholy Britney Spears Documentary Youʼve Never Heard Of”), the Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere.

The fly-on-the-wall documentary, shot during the last stop of Spearsʼs Dream Within a Dream tour, focuses on the backstage work that goes into producing the spectacle. Spears is not interviewed and does not address the camera directly; nonetheless, a portrait of a sweet, funny, vulnerable young woman emerges. Itʼs heartbreaking to watch, knowing that just six years later, her mental health struggles would lead to a conservatorship overseen by her father.

A longtime member of the Kartemquin Collective, Hoffman has worked on numerous PBS series and political documentaries. A major focus of her work is the Kwakwakaʼwakw people of British Columbia and the reclaiming of Native culture.

After the screening, Neda Ulaby, AMʼ98, National Public Radio arts desk reporter, led a discussion with Hoffman. Viewers could submit questions through the chat. This discussion has been edited and condensed.—Carrie Golus, ABʼ91, AMʼ93

Neda Ulaby

How did a nice socialist filmmaker like you end up backstage at Britney Spearsʼs world tour in 2002?

Judy Hoffman

I was going to a hairdresser to get my hair dyed. He had another client, Jim Forni, who ran Britʼs web page. And my hairdresser, Keith Mitchell, said the two of you need to meet because Jim is really interested in documentary.

So we met. A couple years later, he called and said, “Remember that documentary that we talked about on Britney? Itʼs going to happen, and youʼre going to direct it.”

Ulaby

It seems like the absolute opposite of everything youʼve ever worked on.

Hoffman

Well, yeah, but not totally. I worked for a living in film. I was a camera assistant on the Scorpions world tour, a film on the Four Tops, numerous music videos. Thereʼs nothing like shooting rock and roll.

I didnʼt know her music at all. Jim Forni said, even better that you donʼt, so you can walk into this fresh.

As someone who believes in womenʼs liberation, which I guess we now call feminism, I was curious about what she was like and how she was marketed. Sheʼs a woman working and being on the road, which I could relate to, because I had been on the road for a long time making films. I was curious about the work that goes into the production of a show, the labor. Britneyʼs a hard worker. Virtually everything she did, when she wasnʼt on stage performing, had to do with work.

Ulaby

Iʼm very familiar with how painstaking and painful it is to negotiate time to get any kind of behind-the-scenes glimpse of celebrities. What was your experience?

Hoffman

When we got to Mexico we found out her people didnʼt know anything about it. Jim had gotten clearance, but the people on tour werenʼt aware. We spent two days in meetings trying to negotiate access.

The idea was to do direct cinema no matter what—to not do an interview with Britney, to save that for another time. Just follow her and get what we could of the work she does, hoping that we would have a story somehow.

Ulaby

Somebody has asked such a great question. “Albert Maysles made so many intimate portraits of celebrities. How did Britney respond to Albert?”

Hoffman

You know, itʼs a story. Like two ships in the night.

Britney decided I would have to shoot her. Particularly in hair and makeup, she wanted a woman. When I was going for a wide shot of her bodyguards, I kept backing up and backing up, because they were so big, I needed to keep reframing. And I fell downstairs and sprained my ankle really severely. They sent me to Britneyʼs massage therapist to get worked on.

After that Albert had to shoot. At that time, Albert was in his mid-70s. Very grandfatherly, very sweet. In trying to get to know her a little bit, Albert said, “You know, Iʼve shot a lot of beautiful women in my time, and their eyes are always far apart. Like Jackie O.” Britney had no idea who Jackie O. was. Al had to explain it to her. And then Britney said, “Oh, you mean like Brandy.” And Albert had no idea who Brandy was.

Ulaby

My sense is her people thought you were making a publicity film, not a cinema verité documentary. Do you think she knew what your project was?

Hoffman

Iʼm not sure she had any clue. At one point—given my background in making sure that people who are the subject of the film have agency—I gave her a camera. I thought it would be interesting to have her shoot her own experiences, but she had no interest. And I couldnʼt blame her. I mean, she was constantly working.

We were present, but we werenʼt pushing her for anything. So maybe she trusted us a little bit more because of that.

Ulaby

Somebody has asked a couple of questions about the distribution of your movie. Why was it “hidden from public view”?

Hoffman 

It wasn’t really hidden. It was for marketing. (Holds a book up to the camera.) This big book is called Stages, a document of the Dream Within a Dream tour. At the back of the book is a DVD.

That’s how the film got out into the world, through the book. You could get it through her website or purchase it at big chains—not independents—but chains like Borders or Kroch’s and Brentano’s. They wanted it to be out by Christmas of 2002. 

So that was it. I screened it for Gender Studies at the University here, the Old Town School of Folk Music, a film series in Evanston. Outside of that, the film doesn’t have any real life to it.

Ulaby

Based on the comments, I would beg to disagree. People who have watched this movie tonight are blown away. 

Hoffman

Really. Wow.

Ulaby

I hope it’s not disrespectful to observe that one of the reasons the documentary is getting attention right now is because the New York Times came out with Framing Britney Spears [a 2021 documentary about her conservatorship]. You’ve seen it?

Hoffman

Yeah, I did. 

Ulaby

Were there issues explored in that documentary that you saw back in 2002?

Hoffman

She was really pushed. The paparazzi in Mexico City were horrendous. Just swarms of them everywhere. In one scene that didn’t get into the film, Britney had a body double, a decoy. I got in the car with her and shot as the paparazzi followed us.

Ulaby

There’s a question about whether you would change the ending of your film if you could, and if so, how would you change it?

Hoffman

Let’s see now. I would have Britney rebel and say, “I’m not doing this anymore. I’m not going to be a commodity and I’m not going to give young women false expectations.” 

That’s just my dream within a dream. I think the ending is fine for what this film is.

Ulaby

What did you learn from doing this documentary?

Hoffman

That’s a good question. I learned I ended up caring more about Britney. Documentary filmmakers are like social workers. You’re rooting for someone to get their life together.