Lisa doc Always Lalisa premieres at TIFF, opens in theatres Oct. 12
Lisa's first year working apart from Blackpink is now a feature film. Always Lalisa, directed by Sue Kim, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will open in theatres and IMAX on Oct. 12, according to Variety.
The film tracks a break that is a first for its subject. Lisa joined YG Entertainment, the South Korean music company behind Blackpink, at age 13 after beating 4,000 hopefuls at an audition. She was its first non-Korean trainee and moved to South Korea the next year to enter its training system for young pop stars.
That system was intensive. She learned conversational Korean within six months of arrival and trained for five years before debuting in 2016 as a rapper and dancer in Blackpink, the four-member girl group. She has said she did not set foot in a nightclub until she was 25.
In 2024, Lisa and the other Blackpink members announced they would pursue solo projects separate from YG. Lisa formed her own management company, Lloud, and joined RCA Records for her solo music career. She has since released her first solo album, Alter Ego.
The same period took her into screen work. She made her acting debut in season three of The White Lotus, the HBO holiday-resort drama, and sang a James Bond theme at the Academy Awards.
Always Lalisa draws on interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes footage, according to TIFF. It features interviews with members of Lisa's family and with White Lotus creator Mike White. Lisa arrives at the release with 106 million followers on Instagram.
The documentary also addresses a difficult episode from the group's trainee years. It covers leaked YG trainee videos in which members are heard saying the N-word while rapping along to songs.
For fans, this means a straight look at the mechanics behind the move. A child recruit who grew up inside one company is shown building a separate team, a solo record and an acting credit in a single year.
