Andrea Bocelli’s Documentary Director Says Her Name Helped Her Land the Dream Gig: ‘An Instant Connection’ (Exclusive)

‘Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe’ director Cosima Spender and the opera singer bonded over their Italian heritage

The director of Andrea Bocelli's new documentary felt an instant connection to the opera singer — especially because of their shared cultural heritage.

Speaking with PEOPLE at the Toronto International Film Festival, Cosima Spender, the director of Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe, shares that when the producers were searching for someone to helm the documentary, Bocelli expressed interest in having an Italian-speaking director.

"I was very lucky that the producers have been told by Andrea that they really wanted an Italian-speaking director, which makes sense, because if you're going to let someone in your life, you want to be able to communicate them in the language that you're most at home," Spender tells PEOPLE on Friday, Sept. 6, a day before the doc's TIFF premiere.

"I met Andrea in a hotel in London. I was being vetted," she says. "I think he made his decision quite quickly, because I was born in the same area of Tuscany that he lived in. So, I spoke with exactly the same local accent.”

“I think he felt at home, and he told me, 'Oh, my doctor's called Cosimo,' And I can say we do share this love for the land we come from," she adds.

According to the film's description provided by TIFF, Because I Believe detail's the iconic opera singer's career from his early childhood and when he began his career in music to now, using “interviews and archival performance footage, as well as informal gatherings, such as a diverting party where Bocelli’s friends and family reminisce over food and wine."

For Spender — whose most recent work includes directing several Italian TV series, short films and music videos — one of the most important parts of establishing a relationship with Bocelli was connecting over their love for the Tuscan region.

"[He] has to travel around the world ... he still wants to feel connected to the land he comes from," Spender says.

"Success came to him quite late, and before that, he was very attached to where he was born and grew up," she continues. "And we share the love of that land, of the scent of the soil after the rain, and the summer and the sounds of winters. That was a connection — an instant connection."

Because I Believe premiered at TIFF on Saturday, Sept. 7, and the audience got to see a more intimate side of the tenor's life.

One moment in the film sees Bocelli opening up about an incident from his childhood that left him blind after he was living with glaucoma.

"As a child, I was considered extremely short-sighted. I could see everything but only from up close," Andrea, 65, said in the documentary. "I remember extremely well the world I saw. Colors, everything. How could I forget those memories?"

The musician's brother Alberto also spoke about his problems with his vision in the film, opening up about his difficult childhood.

"My brother Andrea, aged 3?, due to congenital glaucoma, had been operated on 13 times in Turin," Alberto explained. "It was torture."

While the singer was attending a boarding school for "the visually impaired," he sustained an injury playing soccer that left him with even more vision troubles.

Related: Andrea Bocelli Remembers Soccer Accident That Left Him Blind: 'That's When Darkness Fell'

"One day, playing [soccer], I was the goalkeeper. No idea why, as I had never been the goalie before," Bocelli recalled in the movie. "And I never would be goalie again. A ball hit me right in the face. From that blow, a hemorrhage ... and the rest is history."

Alberto added, "That's when he lost. That's when darkness fell."

In an archival interview with Bocelli's mother shown in the film, she explained that neither she nor her son ever thought Bocelli was just a "poor boy."

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"Above all, Andrea never accepted any form of pity. He'd say, 'What's the point of pity?' " his mom said. “We've raised him on these principles. With courage. With a lot of courage."

According to Spender, the film is full of moments like this that allow viewers to see a more personal view of Bocelli.

"In this film, you go behind, and you see him do much more than just stand there and sing," Spender tells PEOPLE. "You get a sense of who he is as a person. You get the atmosphere of the house, which music permeates absolutely in everyday life. He's always humming a tune. He's always like suddenly singing."

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