Unflinching Whitney Houston film was the therapy a grieving, damaged family needed

In 1999, Whitney Houston was at the peak of her fame post-"The Bodyguard."

Her first album in eight years, "My Love Is Your Love," was hot on the charts, and she was prepping a tour that would take her across Europe and North America.

Wanting to tell her story at a time when speculation about her life behind the scenes was intensifying, the pop superstar gave Austrian director Rudi Dolezal full access to trail her on tour.

Onstage performances, candid backstage moments with family and revealing interviews were all captured for what was a planned documentary titled "Whitney Close Up."

However, the project went unfinished, stalling under the singer's refusal to address the substance abuse problem she was battling that ultimately led to her death at 48 in 2012.

One-hundred-plus hours of footage remained unseen for nearly two decades until last year, when Dolezal was approached to co-direct "Whitney: Can I