An official Whitney Houston documentary is in the works from Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald.

It will be the first to be authorised by the late pop superstar’s estate since her death in 2012 at age 48.

Whitney Houston, left, and daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown
Bobbi Kristina Brown with her late mother Whitney Houston in 2011 (Dan Steinberg/AP)

Altitude Film Entertainment announced the project on Thursday.

The film will feature unprecedented access to those closest to Houston, including an interview with Arista Records founder and president Clive Davis, and examine both the professional heights and personal depths of Houston’s tumultuous life, it said.

Kevin won an Academy Award for his Munich Olympics documentary One Day In September.

Kevin Macdonald (Jimi Celeste/AP/Press Association Images)
Director Kevin Macdonald (Jimi Celeste/AP)

He said he wants to tell the story of how brilliant an artist Houston was and how she changed the way pop music was sung.

No US distributor has been set for the film.