How Jon Batiste Convinced Wife Suleika Jaouad to Document Cancer Battle in ‘American Symphony’

TheWrap magazine: “It’s hard to talk about the grief that you’re feeling. It’s hard to talk about your worst fears,” director Matthew Heineman says

Suleika Jaouad and Jon Batiste in "American Symphony" (Netflix)
Suleika Jaouad and Jon Batiste in "American Symphony" (Credit: Netflix)
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A version of this story first appeared in the SAG Preview/Documentary issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste and his wife, the artist and writer Suleika Jaouad, are the subjects of Matthew Heineman’s uplifting film about an eventful year in the couple’s life.

The humane documentary, originally conceived to follow Batiste’s composition of an American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, took on a new dimension when Jaouad began treatment for a recurrence of leukemia. That tough news occurred in the same week that Batiste scored 11 Grammy nominations for 2021’s “We Are,” which would go on to win Album of the Year.

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Joe McGovern

Awards reporter • joe.mcgovern@thewrap.com • @jmcgvrn

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