In Songwriter, an intimate, beautifully photographed documentation of the creation of Ed Sheeran’s chart-topping album, ÷, the viewer gains insight into the intense,collaborative process that produced some of his biggest hits. Along the way, the film offers a look back at Sheeran’s childhood, through never before-seen-footage from his family’s archives.

Amid a mind-boggling travel schedule that finds him writing on tour buses, at an idyllic Malibu estate, and on one epically luxurious cruise liner, Sheeran works with legendary producer Benny Blanco and musicians such as Amy Wadge, Johnny McDaid, Ryan Tedder, and Julia Michaels to hone multiple songs at the same time while never missing a beat. Through these lovely, often hilarious interactions, filmmaker Murray Cummings reveals Sheeran to be a vulnerable, massively talented songwriter, one whose admiration for his collaborators, and theirs for him, is abundantly evident. Songwriter is an inviting and extremely gratifying window into an artist’s world for fans and neophytes alike.

—Liza Domnitz