The directors of Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger first skirted the question when asked why Liam and Noel Gallagher weren’t at the press conference to support the documentary’s premiere in Venice…
But when pressed directly, co-director Will Lovelace responded: ‘They were here a second ago, having photographs taken – so they are here.’
The Gallagher brothers had arrived at the Palazzo del Casinò in a water taxi directly ahead of the press conference to pose for photographs with Lovelace and his co-director Dylan Southern, as well as writer Steven Knight.
However, the pair declined the opportunity to meet any press together, nor speak on the film ahead of its red carpet premiere later tonight.
But it seems like nothing should be read into the brothers’ absence.
Peaky Blinders writer Knight insisted that Liam and Noel are ‘beyond satisfied’ with the documentary, at the press conference attended by Metro.
Speaking on the brothers’ reaction, Knight described them as being ‘very emotional’ after watching the film, which they only experienced for the first time once it was ‘finished’ in full.
Naturally, their turbulent relationship was on everyone’s minds, following a period of nearly 16 years of estrangement before agreeing to get the band back together.
Did the documentary contribute to the newfound sense of goodwill between Liam and Noel?
Said Lovelace: ‘I’m not sure if the filmmaking affected their relationship, but we certainly captured their relationship coming back together.
‘I think the whole world was interested in that 15 years apart, and will it work, and what’s it going to be like?
‘And it was a sort of privilege to be able to see that relationship get closer together, both in rehearsals, but then also throughout the tour, starting in Cardiff and across the tour, you saw that reconciliation happening on stage in front of the world.’
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Featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage from the band’s 2025 reunion, it’s an intimate chronicle of Oasis’s shock return. However, the crew were careful not to get in the way.
‘Our process was very deliberately designed not to influence what was happening,’ said Southern. ‘So when it came to rehearsals, our aim was to be completely invisible to the band.
‘I don’t think for six weeks they saw us or a single member of our crew, even though they were playing away somewhere. So we put the cameras into the rehearsal space and let them explore what happened.’
It was an approach designed to feel ‘as close to what it would feel like as if the cameras weren’t there,’ focusing as much on the audience as it did Liam and Noel.
‘We didn’t want it to be the film that influenced the relationship, we wanted to document the very genuine thing that was happening and that was the love and excitement coming from the crowd, which was integral in them coming back together,’ added Southern.
‘The music brought them back together. They reunited on stage.’
It’s a marked change from writer Steven Knight’s usual work on such shows as Peaky Blinders and A Thousand Blows.
‘As opposed to writing fiction, where you’re in control of the structure, and in control of the three acts and the happy ending and all that, here you’re dependent on reality and real people and their relationships, and so we didn’t really know how this was going to go,’ said Knight.
Notably, Don’t Look Back in Anger is not a scripted film, risking everything on the famously unpredictable temperament of Liam and Noel Gallagher.
‘The first time that Liam walks into the rehearsal room, the first time that they’re going to perform together for however many years, they haven’t spoken to each other,’ said Knight.
Describing his subjects as ‘British, working class men,’ he continued: ‘So they’re not going to high five or hug or cry.
‘Liam walks in and says, “What’s that on the drum?” And somebody says what it is and he says, “Get rid of that”, and then he says, “Okay, should we start? Shall we go?” And they go, “Okay, yeah,” and they go “1,2,3,4 – ” bang. And they’re in.’
This was how the reunion began, and how the siblings’ relationship developed, on screen and off.
‘We’ve got cameras on that relationship developing for real as their tour [progresses],’ Knight added.
‘The kids become friends. It’s family, and I think that we were very fortunate that that’s what happened, because that’s exactly what we hoped would happen from the beginning. We wanted to make this a film about reconciliation, redemption, and forgiveness.’
And, with Liam and Noel teasing that the band could return for more dates in 2027, it seems as though their reunion is going from strength to strength.
Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger is released in UK cinemas on September 9, 2026