Four drummers take turns in Neil Peart‘s seat alongside Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson in the Banger Films documentary, which premieres at TIFF on September 16.
The trailer for “Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple” has arrived two weeks before the film’s world premiere.
The 96-minute documentary was directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the pair behind the 2010 Rush film “Beyond The Lighted Stage” as well as “Iron Maiden: Flight 666” and the “Metal Evolution” series. It premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday, September 16 at 9:30 p.m. in the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, with a public screening following on September 19.
The footage runs on first impressions and reappraisals. Alex Lifeson recalls his initial reaction to the drummer who would go on to define the band, saying he remembers thinking there was no way Peart was cool enough to be in Rush. Geddy Lee talks about being floored by his triplets. Chad Smith picks out how straight-faced he played.
Dunn was asked recently by Andria Case of CTV News why he returned to Rush more than fifteen years after “Beyond The Lighted Stage“.
“Well, Neil Peart is one of the greatest rock drummers of all time. He is a remarkable lyricist, was an author, and we hope what this documentary will reveal is [that he was] also a very loyal and loving friend, an inspiration to a lot of people. And so we just felt that even though we did the Rush documentary all those years ago, that there was a film to be made about Neil,” he said at the time.
On what audiences might not know about him, he said: “Well, I think people know the drummer and the lyricist and the talented artist that he was, but I don’t think people really know much about him personally, ’cause he was quite a guarded person. And so in the film we pulled together a number of friends of his to really tell us about what he was like as a person, and I think what our film reveals is that — I think the word is a real inspiration to a lot of people in their lives. And so, yeah, here we go. Neil Peart story — it’s time to tell it.”
The film’s central device is Lee and Lifeson playing Rush songs live for the cameras with four drummers taking turns behind the kit: Stewart Copeland of The Police, Danny Carey of Tool, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gavin Harrison, of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson.
TIFF‘s synopsis describes the film as an exhilarating and poignant tribute, with the four joining Lee and Lifeson. Each comes from a different corner of the music, and each has built a career on the idea that a drum part can be a composition in itself, which is the ground Peart worked on.
Alongside the performances, the documentary covers his difficult early years as a working musician and the rise that followed, drawing on archival footage and interviews with friends. It also deals with the losses he suffered in the 1990s, when his daughter Selena died in 1997 and his wife Jacqueline died the following year.
Where to see it
- Sep 16 – World premiere, Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, 9:30 p.m.
- Sep 19 – Public screening, Toronto International Film Festival
- Sep 23 – CBC, “The Passionate Eye“, 8:00 p.m., also on CBC Gem
The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 to September 20. The film was produced by Banger Films and Elevation Pictures, with Republic Pictures holding rights outside Canada.
Peart joined Rush in 1974 and became as central to the band’s identity through his lyrics as through his playing. He died on January 7, 2020 in Santa Monica, California, after three years with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, at the age of 67. Rush announced his death three days later.
Lee and Lifeson returned to the road this year with drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold, opening the “Fifty Something” tour on June 7 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
