‘Dave Chappelle: This Time, This Place’: What we know about the comedy star's new documentary

The film screened as part of the Tribeca Festival in New York

Dave Chappelle is the subject of a new documentary. Courtesy Netflix

Dave Chappelle has a new documentary on the way.

The Grammy Award-winning comedian closed the Tribeca Festival by premiering Dave Chappelle: This Time, This Place.

Screened at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Saturday, the event was attended by a fully vaccinated audience without social-distancing measures in place.

Mask-less attendees had to also place their mobile phones in locked pouches throughout the screening.

A release date has yet to be announced and an official trailer still to be released, but the documentary chronicles Chappelle’s career throughout the pandemic.

Unlike fellow superstar comics Kevin Hart and Chris Rock, who mostly stayed away from the stage, Chappelle maintained a steady schedule through a long-running series of outdoor and socially distanced shows in his home village of Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In addition to the celebrities filmed attending the shows over the months – including Hart, Rock, Tiffany Haddish and Trevor Noah – Dave Chappelle: This Time, This Place explores how the gigs contributed economically to the village of under 4,000 people.

That local flavour is also found behind the camera, as directors Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar are Chappelle’s neighbours.

While the laughs are never far from the surface, the documentary discovers Chappelle’s reaction to what has been a traumatic year for the US.

These emotions were often expressed on stage through powerful and raw performances that went viral through official releases on social media, including the YouTube special 8:46.

The 27-minute monologue's title refers to the length of time former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pushed his knee against George Floyd's neck, leading to his death on May 25, 2020.

It remains one of the most searing explainers of how the event triggered racial protests that engulfed the US and other parts of the world.

The film also sheds light on his own brush with Covid-19.

Chappelle was diagnosed with the virus in January this year, forcing him to cancel a string of shows.

David Letterman will also make an appearance in the documentary, although it has yet to be reported if the film mentions Chappelle's guest appearance on the Netflix series My Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

During last year's episode, shot in Yellow Springs, Chappelle provided a rare insight into how his Muslim faith drove his successful career.

"I wanted to have a meaningful life, a spiritual life, not just what my hands can hold,” he said on the episode.

“I felt like I've always had this notion that life should mean something.”