Yahoo Finance Jon Batiste and His Wife Share a Tender Moment as She Undergoes Chemotherapy in “American Symphony”: Exclusive Scene
Netflix's documentary 'American Symphony' follows Jon Batiste during a period of professional success while his wife Suleika Jaouad's leukemia returns
Jon Batiste stood by his wife Suleika Jaouad's side during a scary moment in their marriage.
Netflix's new documentary American Symphony follows 37-year-old Batiste and Jaouad, 35, as she faced a hospitalization due to a cancer recurrence in 2022. The return of the cancer came as Batiste prepared to debut an original symphony, titled American Symphony, at New York City's Carnegie Hall in September of that year.
A scene from the film, exclusive to PEOPLE, shows Batiste and Jaouad, who tied the knot in February 2022, walking through the halls of a hospital during her chemotherapy treatment. They amuse each other with a game of Simon Says, each copying the others' moves.
"I feel a strong, strong, strong desire to take the pain away. But I can't," the Grammy winner can be heard saying in a voiceover. "This is a moment, a test, and it's nobody's fault, and nobody can control it."
Related: Who Is Jon Batiste's Wife? All About Suleika Jaouad
Courtesy of Netflix
Suleika Jaouad and Jon Batiste in 'American Symphony'“That’s us,” Batiste recently told PEOPLE of his dynamic with his wife, as shown in their game of Simon Says in the new clip.
American Symphony meets Batiste after he received 11 Grammy nominations in November 2021 for his album We Are, and as he embarked on composing his symphony for a performance at Carnegie Hall.
Courtesy of Netflix
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"This extraordinary trajectory is upended when Batiste’s life partner — best-selling author Suleika Jaouad — learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned," reads an official synopsis for the film, adding that it depicts "a portrait of two inimitable artists at a crossroads and a profound meditation on art, love, and the creative process."
The documentary was directed by Matthew Heineman, an Academy Award nominee in 2016 for his work on 2015's Cartel Land. American Symphony began as a means of documenting Batiste's work on his symphony, but Jaouad was diagnosed with leukemia for the second time in her life in December 2021, as she announced in her newsletter at the time.
"We initially planned to make a process film about Jon’s American Symphony but life intervened when Jon got nominated for eleven Grammys and Suleika got re-diagnosed with cancer," Heineman tells PEOPLE of how the movie changed during production. "American Symphony became a beautiful meditation on what it means to be an artist and to persevere during tough times and good times."
Courtesy of Netflix
Suleika Jaouad in 'American Symphony'"I’ve truly never met people who know themselves so well," the filmmaker adds of Batiste and Jaouad. "And despite all of the points at which they could deviate from being who they are, they both stay radically, inescapably authentic. That was a beautiful thing to capture and it’s something I hope people take away. As Jon would say, 'Be yourself.' "
American Symphony made its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August. The movie begins streaming on Netflix Wednesday.
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