Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders documentary premieres at TIFF

The first authorized documentary about the rock band The Pretenders, titled ‘Pretenders’, has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Joss Crowley, the film provides a portrait of the band following years of persuasion from the filmmaker to the band's lead singer, Chrissie Hynde.

Hynde, 75, expressed significant reluctance to participate in the project, noting her dislike for cameras and self-mythologizing. She established strict ground rules for the production, including limiting her own on-camera interviews and requesting a focus on the band rather than a traditional biographical approach. Hynde stated that she prefers to control the narrative of the band's history rather than having others tell it, though she noted she has no intention of watching the finished film.