The documentary film that documented The Beatles’ recording sessions for Let It Be was Let It Be. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the 1970 British film follows the Beatles rehearsing and recording during January 1969.
The project began as an attempt to capture the group preparing new songs and potentially returning to live performance. Cameras first filmed rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios before the production moved to Apple headquarters on Savile Row. The film includes performances and works in progress connected with what became the Beatles’ twelfth and final studio album, Let It Be.
Its best-known sequence is the unannounced rooftop concert on January 30, 1969, featuring the Beatles with keyboardist Billy Preston. The performance was the group’s final public concert. The film is sometimes confused with the album itself, or with later projects such as The Beatles: Get Back, but Let It Be is the original documentary associated with the sessions. The album and film share a title because both grew out of the same recording project.