Okay, just got a chance to watch this.
First of all, I like the aspect of Episode 1 that you’ve chosen to focus on. The Anakin podrace plot in TPM was the best part of the movie IMO, and I’m glad to see (almost) no Coruscant scenes and very little Gungan action.
Interspersing these scenes into ANH has promise; since there are obvious parallels between Luke and Anakin, it feels appropriate to see Anakin’s time on Tatooine. However, I don’t think their placement quite works yet. For example, the first inclusion after the Tantive scene carries with it a feeling of narrative whiplash, as we are suddenly introduced to a bevy of new characters from 3 decades prior. They are talking about Tatooine, sure, but we are never told that Tatooine is Luke’s planet in ANH, so it’s a bit strange to be focusing on this. The same odd whiplash holds true for most of the other flashbacks. The fade outs after the Droid Auction and after the Binary Sunset seem like good places for flashback scenes, but the content of these flashbacks has little to do with the previous scenes and so they still feel out of place.
Going forward, I would ask: what is the goal here? You say it is to tell Anakin’s story, and indeed it focuses on this aspect above all others, but there’s still a great deal of extraneous plot for TPM. I’d argue that the story should be told from Anakin’s point of view, so it should not begin with Obi-wan and Qui-gon. In fact, the Naboo plot should have no place here, as Anakin has practically no understanding of this conflict, and in any case the plot for TPM makes little sense.
Watching this edit, I had an idea of how you could make this more about Anakin, and tie it together with ANH. It could start with the Tantive attack as normal, but after R2 and 3PO escape in the pod, it cuts to the deleted scene of Luke watching the battle and his discussion with Biggs. This establishes Luke as a hotshot pilot risking his life early in the film. Then the first we see of TPM footage is right after the dinner scene where Luke’s parents talk about Anakin:
“He has too much of his father in him”
"That’s what I’m afraid of"
32 Years Earlier
Cut to the middle of the podrace. We see Anakin neck and neck with Sebulba, and then one of Anakin’s engines catches fire, costing him his position. The next scene is Jar Jar and Sebulba, and this is where Anakin meets Qui-gon and company. Anakin notices Qui-gon’s lightsaber, Anakin invites them to his home, and they discuss their predicament over dinner. Edit out the fact that Watto doesn’t know about the pod - in this version Anakin has used this pod in several races.
Then there is the binary sunset and R2’s disappearance.
Later that night, Anakin and Qui-gon sit outside discussing Anakin’s future. There is the scene with Watto, where the dialogue has been massively cut down to only include the bit about the ship being the entry fee. Then Anakin fixes his pod and it ends with his ‘It’s working’ line.
Then Luke and the Sand People and his talk with Obi-wan. After this scene, as the music rises, cut to the beginning of the podrace. The race happens sans the parts used in the previous race, and there is no discussion of Qui-gon winning Anakin in a bet. The scene after the podrace is Anakin being informed that he has been freed and his emotional leave-taking. This mirrors Luke’s inner turmoil over leaving, and gives us more room between his refusal of the call and his sudden decision to leave.
Cut to the Imperial officers and the film continues as is.
I don’t know how much more of Anakin’s story needs to be told in this fashion. After Luke sells his speeder and we see the dark-hooded spy character, we could cut to Maul on Tatooine, and have the lightsaber fight where Anakin meets Obi-wan. Then in the next scene Luke and company see the Falcon and it couldn’t be more different than the queen’s starship. This would emphasize the decrepitude of the ship. However, including such a villain would draw attention away from ANH and onto the plot of TPM, and this would make the film feel very bifurcated. So I think it would be best to just end the flashback scenes with Anakin’s leave-taking.