Emily Remler emerged as one of the most distinctive jazz guitarists of her generation in the late 1970’s, recording seven studio albums during her lifetime before her untimely death in 1990 at the age of 32. An upcoming feature documentary Firefly: The Emily Remler Story – slated for completion in 2027, the year Emily would have celebrated her 70th birthday – will tell the remarkable story of the young pioneering jazz guitarist through previously unseen concert performances and interview footage of the late guitarist, alongside contributions from musicians, friends and collaborators including Martin Taylor MBE, Jennifer Batten, Sheryl Bailey, Mimi Fox and Eleonora Strino, and others.
But Emily’s story is about much more than jazz.
It is a story about ambition, identity and obsession: the drive required to become extraordinary, the experience of being a woman in a musical world dominated by men, the personal struggles that accompanied her success, and the question of what remains of an artist after they are gone.
At the heart of Firefly is a simple question:
How could someone this talented have been so widely forgotten?
Written, directed and produced by Al Naffah and co-produced by Michael Rushworth, in co-operation with the Emily Remler Estate, Berklee College of Music and Musicians Institute in Hollywood, the film will explore both Emily’s remarkable musical achievements and the personal story behind a career cut tragically short.
The film is already well underway: This is not a campaign to begin making Firefly.The film has already been shot and is well into production. Over the past year, we have travelled to meet people who knew Emily, conducted extensive interviews and assembled rare archival material from both institutional and private collections.
We now have the ingredients of the film. We need your help to finish it.
This is where we – the Jazz Guitar Community – can lend a much needed hand to get this documentary to the finish gate. The filmmakers are seeking to raise up to $85,000 in completion funding, including through an initial £20,000 Kickstarter campaign launching on Friday 25 September 2026. Funds will go towards music licensing, previously unseen television and performance footage, photographic archives and professional post-production. Tax-deductible US donations can also be made through the film’s fiscally sponsored fundraising campaign.
The money raised through this campaign will go directly toward completing the documentary: the final edit, archive and music licensing, motion graphics, sound design and mix, color grading, mastering and the other finishing work required to turn our work-in-progress into a finished feature film ready for audiences.
Our goal is to complete Firefly in time to begin its festival journey around the year of Emily’s 70th birthday.
To ensure that this most important project gets off the ground running, Firefly: The Emily Remler Story has received fiscal sponsorship from the International Documentary Association (IDA), enabling eligible US supporters to make tax-deductible contributions towards the production. It has also received an interim cultural certificate from the British Film Institute (BFI).
The film is being produced through Aletheian Pictures, with a team of filmmakers and collaborators committed to giving Emily’s story the cinematic treatment it deserves.
We’ve come a long way. Now we want to take it across the finish line.
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Director Al Naffah said: “Emily’s story has long deserved to be told on the big screen. We are excited to bring her extraordinary music to greater attention and highlight her enduring influence on musicians around the world. She built a marvellous career in a field in which women guitarists faced formidable barriers, and her example continues to inspire generations of musicians.”
Beth Marlis, Vice President, Musicians Institute Hollywood added: “This film shines a bright light on Emily’s musical excellence, her trailblazing life and legacy that continues to inspire and shape the future. At long last, her story will be told with the love, honesty and respect that she so richly deserved. Musicians Institute is proud to support this important project.”
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Please consider donating to this very worthy and praiseworthy project by going to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fireflyemilyremler/help-us-finish-firefly-the-emily-remler-story. Thank you.
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