KATY PERRY and Russell Brand have frequently discussed their 14-month marriage since it ended in December 2011 after Brand sent Perry a text message saying he wanted a divorce. The split was even immortalized onscreen in the 2012 documentary, “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” which featured Perry’s tearful postmortem on their union.

    Three years after that movie, the Brand-Perry relationship is back onscreen, albeit briefly. The couple are shown together in “BRAND: A Second Coming,” a new documentary that had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on Friday night.

    While “BRAND” is much more concerned with its title subject, Perry’s presence is unavoidable. In fact, it’s while Brand is married to Perry that he has a sudden epiphany about fame and his place in the world. The comedian is shown visiting Nairobi, where children are digging through a garbage dump loaded with hypodermic needles and other dangerous refuse; the footage is then juxtaposed with Brand discussing a lavish party he attended with Perry. It’s a turning point that pushes Brand away from his ascension up the Hollywood ladder and toward his current place in the lexicon as a political activist.

    Brand has frequently said he enjoyed being married to Perry, and while “BRAND” doesn’t dwell on their relationship too much, it does include one piece of the comic’s philosophy on human connections.

    “I cut people out of my life if I think things aren’t functioning,” Brand says over footage of the 39-year-old visiting his grandmother’s gravesite with his father. “And I think, ‘What am I making this effort for?’”

    Brand did not attend the debut screening of “BRAND: A Second Coming,” announcing Friday that he was “very uncomfortable” watching the film.

    (SD-Agencies)