Haute 100 NY Update: Robert De Niro Honors Late Father with Touching Documentary at Sundance

It’s been more than a decade since Robert De Niro lost his father, but the Oscar-winning actor is committed to keeping his memory alive. During the Sundance Film Festival, De Niro premiered his documentary about the life of his father, Robert De Niro Sr.

Entitled Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro Sr., the film chronicles the life of the acclaimed abstract expressionist painter, who was endorsed by the famed art collector and socialite, Peggy Guggenheim.

“[I] wanted to make a documentary about my father with footage, whatever footage we had; people, whoever was around that were still with us, [I] wanted to have them interviewed and talk about him and have it for the family, for my kids, the grandkids,” he told the Associated Press. “And then it went this way that HBO picked it up which is really great.”

Despite the hard work that De Niro put into the film, the actor joked that his father would be embarrassed by the sweeping attention. “He would be flattered on the one hand and say, `Well, I don’t know, that’s not accurate’ or this or that,” he revealed.

The touching documentary will air on HBO in June, but for those art lovers looking to get a sneak peak of the artwork, just head down to De Niro’s restaurant, Tribeca Grill, in New York City. “I asked him if he would let me hang some of his paintings there and I thought for sure he’s not gonna, not gonna like that, but he actually went along with it,” De Niro explained. “He hung them himself, especially the three big paintings in the back of the grill and I was told he’d bring friends from time to time like once a week or every 10 days or so to have dinners there. And then I asked him if he’d do the menu and he did the menu, which is still there. It will be there as long as the place exists.”