South African Robert Ford (pictured left) produced Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which has just been nominated for four Emmys: Directing, Writing, Editing and Music Composition. The doccie will be streaming on Showmax from Friday, 25 July, and has already won more than 30 awards, including Best Documentary at the 2025 BAFTAs, a Producers Guild of America Award and six Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.
The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralysed from the neck down.
After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care – all while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera and dedicating himself to his beloved family.
Personal archive material
Super/Man includes never-before-seen intimate home movies and an extraordinary trove of personal archive material, as well as the first extended interviews ever filmed with Reeve’s three children about their father, and interviews with the A-list Hollywood actors who were Reeve’s colleagues and friends.
Watch the trailer, which has nearly 8m views:
South African Robert Ford spent the first 18 years of his life in Wellington, matriculating from Hugenote Hoërskool before moving to England. Over the past 25 years, Ford worked in film in various roles, from assistant editor to sound assistant to camera operator, making his name as a production manager and then as a documentary producer.
Drawn to interesting stories
In 2019, his career changed gear after he worked as a field producer on Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which is still one of IMDb’s highest-rated series of all time. This was followed by producing credits on two Emmy winners: The Deepest Breath, about world-record-setting free diver Alessia Zecchini, and Rising Phoenix, about the Paralympics, as well as Alex Gibney’s Citizen K, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award; Final Account, which was nominated for two Critics Choice Documentary Awards; and the Emmy-nominated Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, about the legendary Manchester United coach.
“I’ve done a lot of archive-based documentaries about people from recent history,” says Ford. “And quite a lot of them were sports documentaries. I don’t know why that happened; I’m not really a big sport person but I was just drawn to interesting stories in the world of sport.”
He’d worked with Super/Man directors Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte on Rising Phoenix, coming back to South Africa to film Paralympics double-Gold medalist Ntando Mahlangu. That documentary had opened all of their eyes to the struggle for disability rights – a key aspect of Reeve’s legacy.
“When I heard they were developing a documentary about Christopher Reeve, I immediately jumped at it because Chris was such an icon. I was always fascinated by his life, just because it’s such a dramatic story, with such highs and such lows. And then when I found out how much archive footage there is, that the family filmed everything and kept everything and had this huge treasure trove of archive, it felt like a no brainer to make this film.”
Universal story
Having now made a couple of documentaries about disability, Ford believes it’s not only “important that those stories are heard and not marginalised” but that disabled talent is included in the filmmaking process.
On Super/Man, their team included several disabled crew and consultants. “They were involved in every aspect of the film’s R&D. Their insights into living with paralysis proved particularly invaluable, helping us to understand not just the everyday challenges for a disabled person but also the ethics and (often controversial) politics around the idea of ‘cure’ which Chris championed.”
Ford is looking forward to the people he grew up with being able to see his film on Showmax. “It’s a universal story,” he says. “Chris went out of his way to help others. He was a kind and empathetic person even before his accident, who did a lot for others, but that accelerated hugely after his fall, even while he was confronting unimaginable adversity. Behind the onscreen superhero was a real-life hero.”
What: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Where and when: Showmax from 25 July 2025
WS
