When Won't You Be My Neighbor? premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the film's director described the film as therapy. One wonders what the film's subject, Fred Rogers, would have made of the world today. Certainly the film seems to have acted as a soothing balm for American audiences, offering a respite from the craziness of the era of the 45th president. Certainly the film has proved an indie hit in America, with the highest gross for a documentary in nearly five years (and even that was a One Direction concert film). But the real question is, can a film about a very American figure translate outside of the world's foremost superpower?

The documentary acts as an interesting biopic of a figure I barely knew, someone who had only really reached my cultural diet through parodies on Family Guy (he has periodically been a figure of fun on that particular show). Won't You Be My Neighbor? chronicles Rogers' rise to prominence, from humble beginnings to the foremost figure of children's entertainment in America. It takes in his struggle with fame, his creativity, and the impact he had.

Director Morgan Neville, who achieved Oscar glory with 20 Feet from Stardom, provides the documentary with a respectful, gentle tone. He doesn't shy away from the easily-mockable nature of Fred Rogers, with footage of parodies included, but seeks to present him as a figure ingrained in America's psyche during his five-decade career. Rogers' show seems quaint and charming, if probably more conservative then it is portrayed here. The steps of progress that were portrayed, such as Rogers bathing his feet in the same water as the African American police officer (at a time when mixed race pools were a racist flashpoint in America), are given the same importance as Rogers' faith and former role within his church. What is most interesting is seeing Rogers placed as the figure to respond to tragedy in America, with public service broadcasts designed to help the young cope with the likes of the Columbia explosion and 9/11. The documentary is at its strongest and most potent when it is making an argument for what has been lost in America (and one can certainly say that America feels lost right now).

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a charming curiosity, one that successful plucks at the viewer's heart strings. And yet the film feels very much a product for Americans. I'm not sure of the appeal this film will have outside of the United States, but this doesn't diminish its impact. It is an interesting profile, effectively told with a core argument that can't help but reach for resonance.

This is a London Film Festival preview, and Won't You Be My Neighbor? will be released on the 9th November 2018.