Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is seen backstage at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards slow-dancing and hugging Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain while Eric Clapton performed "Tears in Heaven."

Cobain killed himself two years later.

"That had been talked about - some people didn't quite remember it even happening, other people swore there was somebody there with a camera - ... and it's so powerful. I was watching it again tonight and it's such a human moment and it's what happens outside the glare of the spotlight," said Crowe on Saturday during a news conference at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"They were really in a blender of media explosiveness at that time and here was this moment below the stage ... where Kurt and Eddie got to be alone and kind of expressed themselves as people. And the fact it was on film is amazing and so poignant."

Vedder said he actually hadn't remembered the day nearly 20 years ago but was jolted back to that moment when he saw it onscreen.

"You see Kurt look over and go like this," Vedder said, holding a finger over his lips, "and it's not him saying, 'Don't tell anybody or keep a lid on this private moment,' it was actually because on the stage above us Eric Clapton was playing 'Tears in Heaven,' which is a pretty quiet song, and we were jumping up and down clapping," Vedder recalled.

"The first time I saw that footage it was incredibly emotional, I think just because he's smiling and you just think, 'If he just could've pulled through.'"

Pearl Jam bass player Jeff Ament said doing the movie was an opportunity for the band members to reflect back on their 20 years together and regroup for the future.

"We carved out (a few weeks) to go in the studio and record some new songs and that sort of got us through all this looking back part, it sort of reminded us of the job at hand, where we're headed," Ament said.

Added Vedder: "I don't think any of us see us stopping. And I think everyone's doing things outside of the group too, which I think is really healthy, so by the time we get back we're excited to be back."

Crowe said he wanted to do a documentary on Pearl Jam's career because he saw a great, unconventional rock story behind the band.

"It's beyond just a rock story, in fact, it takes the usual rock story and turns it on its head. The usual rock story is: 'incredible promise, brilliance maybe, but tragedy cuts it short, and aren't we sad we've lost this wonderful opportunity,'" Crowe said.

"Pearl Jam is exactly the opposite, it's a tragedy that was surmounted and these guys found joy through survival. In some ways it was a hard story to tell because it's a happy ending and it's not even an ending."

Copyright The Canadian Press