The first clip from the forthcoming David Bowie film has been released.

Stardust is written and directed by Gabriel Range and stars Johnny Flynn as Bowie. The film is not a full biopic, but instead captures a specific moment in time – it’s set during Bowie’s first trip to the United States in 1971, and dramatises the inspirations and real world events that gave birth to his alter ego Ziggy Stardust.

In the clip, hosted by Variety, Bowie talks with Ron Oberman, a publicist at Mercury Records (played by Marc Maron) about his prospects in America, expressing doubts that his album The Man Who Sold the World will work there. “I think you are going to be the biggest goddamn star in America,” Oberman responds. “It’s just no one knows how to sell you in America.”

In a statement, director Gabriel Range said: “I set out to make a film about what makes someone become an artist; what actually drives them to make their art. That someone is David Bowie, a man we’re used to thinking about as the star he became, or as one of his alter egos: Ziggy Stardust; Aladdin Zane; The Thin White Duke. Someone I only ever saw at a great distance, behind a mask; a godlike, alien presence. Even in his perfectly choreographed death, he didn’t seem like a regular human being.”

Stardust was originally set to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival this week, but the event has since been postponed due to coronavirus. The film met with some controversy even before production started – it’s not approved by Bowie’s estate, and reportedly won’t feature any of his music.

Watch the clip below.