Bernstein at 91: Broke and partying until 2am

Sid Bernstein. Photo / Supplied

Sid Bernstein orchestrated the British Invasion of America by getting bands such as the Beatles, Stones and Kinks to tour. He also gave the world large-scale outdoor rock concerts back in the 60s. These days, the 91-year-old is broke - but happy.

That's according to director Jason Ressler, who has been working with Bernstein on and off over the past 10 years during the making of his documentary, Sid Bernstein Presents ... , about the concert promoter and music man's life.

"I last saw him a couple of months ago," says Ressler, who is in Auckland for the Documentary Edge Festival which starts today, "and he's still promoting, he's still going out every night and getting home at 2am, and he has no idea of his age. But when we were filming him he was being kicked out of his apartment and he has no money. But he's always okay. That's his personality. Nothing bothers him."

And no, Bernstein has never been a drinker or into drugs so he hasn't wasted his money away. But his music-loving lifestyle came at a cost. While Bernstein is stubborn, says Ressler, he is also "the most gentle guy you would ever meet.

"So his family suffered from not having the money they should've had because he wouldn't be harsh with people and he wouldn't deal with the bottom line. His son Dylan described him well: that he's more of an artist than a businessman. He's poetic. He's a dreamer. If Sid stands for anything, he stands for the artists."

As well as putting on the first big outdoor rock concerts - most famously the Beatles' 1965 show at Shea Stadium where more than 55,000 fans watched, cried, and screamed as the Fab Four opened their North American tour - Bernstein also helped kick down racial barriers in music. He helped the likes of Ray Charles and James Brown (the doco features the last interview with Brown before he died in 2006) into mainstream venues that were off limits to black performers.

"What Sid is and what he represents doesn't exist any more. He's rebellious, but not in the way we think of rebellion, of biting a head off a bat. He's truly rebellious and he wants to see people push the limits, and in a way he pushed himself out because the irony of his life is that he showed people with that Shea Stadium show that there was real money in this business."

Ressler says Sid Bernstein Presents ... is more than just a music documentary - it's "an exploration of the American Dream" through the eyes of Bernstein, a poor, adopted, Jewish kid from Harlem who worked his way up to be one of the pioneers in the music business. "It's about the American Dream and the negatives and positives and the pitfalls. Because All the things he did are extraordinary and I'm not even sure if he realises that."

The making of the film has been fraught because of issues with getting rights to specific music and historical footage - and it is still yet to be completely finished. "Rights issues are the burden of any historical filmmaker, especially those focused on music and film. These rights are controlled by powerful people and it's expensive."

Because of the expense there has been an ongoing funding problem and Ressler and his team have even put out a call on the film's website for fans and interested parties to donate money. "We've run out of money on this thing a bunch of times, and we still don't have the money to get it released right now," says Ressler flippantly, and sounding every bit as unphased as you'd imagine Bernstein would be.

The director is clearly excited the film is getting an airing in Auckland and says audiences here will be able to see a cut of the film that is "99 per cent" done.

Sid Bernstein Presents is on at the Rialto, Newmarket, Sunday, 2.30pm; March 12, 2.30pm; March 14, 6.45pm