Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song is a definitive exploration of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, Hallelujah. This feature-length documentary weaves together three creative strands: The songwriter and his times. The song’s dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit. And moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom Hallelujah has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2014, the film accesses a wealth of never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including Cohen’s personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews.

This project began as an exploration of Hallelujah and its international impact. When we started filming in 2016, our focus was the people who had been involved with recording and singing the song. Those initial interviews proved we were on to an entertaining story, but they also illuminated something deeper about Hallelujah and the man who wrote it. So, we expanded our reach to include Leonard Cohen’s intimates—his spiritual counselors, his longtime friends and collaborators, his intellectual sparring partners. These interviewees speak in depth about Cohen’s lifelong focus on the human condition, allowing our film to explore the deepest questions about faith and the psychological constructs that serve to both support and obstruct us throughout our lives, or as Leonard Cohen would call it “the broken Hallelujah.”