Martin Scorsese to Direct Robbie Robertson Tribute Concert Film

Martin Scorsese will serve as director the Thursday night’s all-star tribute to Robbie Robertson at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, which will be turned into a concert film for future release.

Announced in July, Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson is set to feature artists including Trey Anastasio, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes, Eric Church, Jim James, Margo Price, Bob Weir, and Noah Kahan, as well as The Last Waltz vets like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison.

Scorsese was initially on board as an executive producer of the tribute concert, but on Wednesday, organizers revealed that the legendary filmmaker — who also helmed The Band’s classic The Last Waltz concert film — will be behind the camera for Life Is a Carnival, Variety reports, nearly 48 years after he captured the Band’s farewell show in November 1976.

Robertson, a longtime collaborator of Scorsese’s, died in August 2023 at the age of 80. In a tribute at the time, Scorsese called Robertson one of his “closest friends” and “a constant” in his life and work. “I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor,” Scorsese wrote. “I tried to be the same for him.”

Scorsese later penned a lengthy remembrance Rolling Stone, paying tribute to the singer/songwriter who served as his music producer and composer on films like The King of Comedy (1982), The Color of Money (1986), Casino (1995), Gangs of New York (2002), The Irishman (2019), and 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which was released shortly after Robertson’s death.