India, June 14 -- At the Tribeca Festival this week, Metallica stepped into the spotlight not just as rock legends, but as a lifeline. Their new documentary, Metallica Saved My Life, premiered to a packed crowd at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Thursday - offering an emotional tribute to the global community that surrounds the band and the lives touched, shaped, and sometimes literally saved by their music.

Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film paints an intimate portrait of Metallica's impact across continents - from the streets of Japan to the heavy metal scene in Botswana - told entirely through the voices of fans. But the band themselves had their own truths to share.

Following the screening, all four members - James...