John Legend is lending his voice to “We Dare to Dream,” a documentary about the refugee Olympic team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Legend will write, compose and record “Don’t Need to Sleep,” an original song for the docu, which will open theatrically Oct. 20 at New York’s IFC Center.
Legend as well as his Get Lifted Film co-founders Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius will serve as executive producers on the project alongside Angelina Jolie.
“I am honored to contribute an original song to ‘We Dare to Dream,'” says Legend. “Waad Al-Kateab has created an important film and I hope “Don’t Need to Sleep” does the documentary and its extraordinary subjects justice.”
“We Dare to Dream” is director Waad Al-Kateab’s second feature doc. In her first film, “For Sama,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, the Syrian director used her camera to capture her daily life during the siege of Aleppo. “We Dare to Dream” is framed by Al-Kateab’s personal story as an auteur coming to terms with her place in the world as she realizes she can never go home to Aleppo.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia produced “We Dare to Dream,” which is being self distributed and will be qualified for Oscar consideration.
“I’m so honored that John Legend has joined our film and mission to support the global refugee community,” says Al-Kateab. “His music is a gift to all of us who have worked to bring this story to the world so that people can understand the lived experience of people like me who cannot go home but are fighting to rebuild our lives, to contribute to the world and participate in society fully. We do this work as we wait for the day we can safely go back to our homelands.”
Gebbia produced “We Dare to Dream” alongside Violet Films’ Joanna Natasegara (“Virunga”), Abigail Anketell-Jones (“The Edge of Democracy”) and XTR’s Bryn Mooser and Kathryn Everett.
Legend wrote “Don’t Need to Sleep” with Oak Felder and Justin Tranter.
