In an interview with gay magazine, Out, De Niro talks about making a documentary to showcase his dad's artwork and life story.
Robert De Niro Sr. who died from cancer almost 20 years ago, was a New York City artist and just happened to be openly gay.
In his interview with Out, De Niro said he felt obligated to make the film which is called Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr.
"It was my responsibility to make a documentary about him. I was always planning on doing it, but never did. Then Jane Rosenthal, my partner at Tribeca [Enterprises], said, ‘We should start doing that now.' It was not intended to be on HBO. It was just something I wanted to do."
De Niro has preserved his father’s final home and studio in New York City’s trendy art district SoHo. It now acts a quiet shrine to his father, a 'great artist'.
In the film, De Niro emotionally shares stories of his father’s despair about his sexual orientation and reveals he made a last-ditch effort to help his father when he was sick in Paris.
"About his homosexuality? Yeah, he probably was [conflicted], being from that generation, especially from a small town upstate. I was not aware, much, of it. I wish we had spoken about it much more."
The documentary airs on the US channel HBO on June 9th.
