Culture chat: Roger Federer is too nice for documentaries

Life and Art from FT Weekend

Roger Federer is one of the world’s greatest tennis players – but is he dramatic enough for a full film? Today we discuss the new Federer documentary, just released on Amazon Prime. It’s called Federer: Twelve Final Days, and follows the tennis star in the run-up to his retirement. Does the film fully reflect his legacy well? Is Federer boring? And how do we feel about the next batch of tennis stars? Chief features writer Henry Mance and deputy arts editor Raphael Abraham join Lilah to discuss.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap. We’re on X @lifeandartpod and on email at [e-mail]. We are grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify. And please share this episode with your friends!

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):

– Raph’s interview with 22-year-old Italian Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner: https://on.ft.com/4etUAro

– Henry’s interview with tennis star Boris Becker on his money, marriages and what he learned in prison: https://on.ft.com/3VPUMKy

– Henry is on X @henrymance.

More or less:

– Raph recommends the Julio Torres film Problemista. You can check out his stand-up comedy here

– Henry recommends Creation Lake, the upcoming novel by Rachel Kushner publishing in September

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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