Dave Grohl isn't in HBO's new Kurt Cobain documentary, but he wanted to be

For close to two decades, Courtney Love and the surviving members of the band Nirvana - Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic - have feuded over the band's finances, among other things.

However, with the Monday premiere of the HBO documentary "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck," which has the approval of the Cobain family and band, it looks like the relationship between the wife of the band's legendary deceased frontman and its members is improving.

Following a screening of the documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, the film's director, Brett Morgen ("The Kid Stays in the Picture"), and Love took the stage to discuss the film and addressed why Grohl isn't in the film but Novoselic is.

"I wanted to keep [the film] as intimate as possible, so I didn't feel the need for multiple members of Nirvana [to be in it]," Morgen told the packed audience at Spring Studio in Lower Manhattan. "But I didn't want to be in a Q&A and answer this question all the time, so I asked if I could talk to Kirst and Dave. I heard back that Dave was in the middle of doing his album [and was unavailable]. Which is fine, and I was fine with that."

But Morgen added that two weeks before premiering the film at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, Morgen got word that Grohl was done promoting the album and was available to be interviewed for the film.

"So I was like, Alright, we'll try," said Morgen. "We did the interview and Dave was great and awesome, but I couldn't do what I'd already done."

Morgen had already shown the film at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival when he tried to work the Grohl interview into the film. But he said by that time he had "lost the feel to evaluate it anymore" and decided to leave it on the cutting room floor.

Love did not comment on Sunday about Grohl not being in the film, but if previous Nirvana events are any indication, it seems the two are currently in a better place.

The band and Love had been at odds since the suicide death of Cobain in 1994.

Love, Grohl, and Novoselic partnered in a LLC in 1997, which controls band assets like unreleased music, images, and requires a unanimous vote on major decisions about the use of anything related to the band.

In 2001, Love sued Grohl and Novoselic over the unreleased song "You Know You're Right" included in a Nirvana box set due to be released the fall of that year, and asked the court to dissolve the LLC partnership.

Grohl and Novoselic counter-sued, stating that Love is "motivated solely by her blind self-interest." 

The lawsuit was settled in 2002 with all parties staying in the LLC and "You Know You're Right" being featured in a retrospective album.

But things with Love and Grohl went sour again in 2011 when Love accused Grohl of seducing her daughter with Cobain, Frances Bean Cobain. (Grohl has said the accusation is untrue.)

But at last year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of Nirvana, it seemed everyone was on good terms again.

Love not only went on stage with Grohl and Novoselic to accept the honor, but she and Grohl even hugged on stage.

Love followed the event by tweeting:

At the Tribeca Q&A, Morgen was asked how difficult it was to get the full cooperation of Cobain's family and the surviving band members to take part in this project. He admitted that when he started working on the film in 2007 it was a challenge, but because Frances Bean Cobain was involved everyone agreed to take part.

Love then interjected on how everyone felt about each other at the time:

"It was a tsunami of s---, and I caused most of it."