FILM-MAKER Stephen Kijak has a vivid recollection of when he first heard the dulcet tones of the Backstreet Boys.
"I remember hearing I Want It That Way on the radio in a Korean deli on the corner of 6th Street and Avenue B in New York and then browsing for the full four minutes of it because it was SUCH a great pop song," he laughs.
"I was embarrassed of myself for falling for it because I just didn't like them and didn't like boybands. I was like, 'Why do I love this song?' "But I didn't suddenly become a Backstreet Boys fan. You just file it under 'guilty pleasure' and you move along."
I Want It That Way is one of the band's best-known singles and it was taken from the 1999 album Millennium, which went on to shift more than 30 million copies.
The band - Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson - were at the height of their fame between 1999 and 2002, touring the world and getting mobbed by crowds of swooning fans (teenage girls, mostly).
But with fickle boyband fans moving on to the next big thing and with various band members struggling with drink and drug demons, BSB dropped off the scene until their reunion in 2012 and then a 20th anniversary album and tour in 2013.
Kijak's film Show 'Em What You're Made Of looks back at the slow rise, quick fall and resurrection of the band and it's a frank, funny and fascinating documentary that won't just appeal to fans of the band. "Myself and my producer Mia [Bays] weren't fans," says the director. "Some people thought it might turn into something that only the fans would care about, but we tested the film against our really cynical non-fan friends and we got grown men to cry, so I thought that we were on the right track. "There will be people that never like it and I do feel that in reviews we're getting docked one star just because it's a film about the Backstreet Boys. "So we did keep the fans in our hearts but we also wanted to reach out of that inner circle and make something that would entertain and engage anybody."
For a film-maker who made acclaimed documentaries on the Rolling Stones (Stones in Exile) and Scott Walker (30 Century Man), he jokes that a Backstreet Boys film was "the next illogical step". "You can only do so many fanboy films before it becomes a bit ridiculous. It was going into the great unknown that made this one both challenging and fun."
In the film we see how the band were brought together in Florida in 1993 by impresario and millionaire Lou Pearlman. We see the band's highs and lows, one particular low being when they found out that Pearlman had swindled them out of millions. He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and money laundering. "Some people say, 'Why isn't it darker? Why is there not more about the drugs and Lou Pearlman?' but you can go read the article about Lou. That's a different film," says Kijak. "But come on... There's a lot of [dark] stuff in there. And there are a lot of laughs too." There's a healthy mix of archive footage and new interviews in the film, which covers AJ putting drink and drugs behind him, Kevin quitting the band in 2006 before coming back in 2013, Brian's voice problems, Nick's fiery temper and Howie at his childhood home reminiscing about his father culling rabbits. It all adds up to an extremely interesting snapshot into the "bestselling boyband in history".
Kijak is based in LA now but is in England this week ahead of countless special screenings of the film in cinemas tonight, followed by a satellite-beamed live performance from the band at the Dominion Theatre in London.
He recalls that BSB were widely derided in the US at their peak. "In the UK it's fascinating to see when Take That got back together how the nation embraced them and how when they broke up there were hotlines for traumatised young girls. "The Backstreet Boys were just as ridiculed as they were celebrated and then just faded away. Just look at their hairdos and how they dressed."
Despite the criticism, the five guys are all good singers and Kijak says old footage of them singing a cappella gave him goosebumps. "It was an education to see the actual songcraft and the actual chops underneath all the crap. And they really worked their asses off to get where they were."
:: Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of (Cert 15) screens at the Odeon and Odyssey cinemas in Belfast at 7pm tonight (and in 18 cinemas in the Republic), followed by a satellite-beamed live performance from the band.