All these wonderful things

About A Son Premieres Tonight on Sundance Channel

Further proof that the life of a film is long, my own KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON has its television premiere tonight on the Sundance Channel (it's playing all month on Sundance on Demand).

As much as I promote the theatrical experience for nonfiction films, there is little doubt that the largest audience for my film (as with most) will come from folks who catch it on TV.  Pleasantly, Ken Fox at TV Guide gave us a lovely review - 3 1/2 stars out of 4:

"Aside from a few black-and-white photographs, Kurt Cobain never appears in this documentary, nor is a single note of his music ever heard. Instead, filmmaker AJ Schnack's hauntingly beautiful film is a bold and successful attempt to recover the human being who disappeared under the heavy mantle of "face and voice of a lost generation," and whose life has been increasingly overshadowed by his sensational early death in 1994."

Thanks once again to all who helped make the film possible and to Sundance Channel for continuing to support my work.

KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON Out Today on DVD

Nearly three years ago, I started this blog in large part to serve as a filmmaking diary as I was about to start work on my second feature.  It has, over time, morphed into something else entirely, which is all for the good.  But occasionally we return to the original intent and purpose and today is one of those days.

There are many, many stages of getting your film out there, to a strangely inverse corollary of your own level of excitement or nervousness vs. the number of people who actually see the film.  There's that first screening, where tens or hundreds or, in the right festival or venue, a thousand people see your film, and your emotion is running high.  But as time goes on and you're at your fourth, fifth, sixth festival, the level of anticipation is obviously diminished, even as another hundred people here, another hundred there, sit in the dark to watch your film.

Same goes with a theatrical release, if you're lucky enough to get one.  It's not quite the same sense of wonder - after all, now it actually starts to matter whether or not anyone shows up - but you're potentially reaching a larger audience and getting more press.

Today is my third signpost on the journey to endless runs on the Sundance Channel, the release of the DVD of KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON.  It's not been a smooth journey, I will say quite frankly, and there were days when I started to wonder if there'd ever be a DVD release, and if there was one, whether I'd write anything about it here.  But ultimately, I'm proud and happy that all the folks who have written me asking why the film didn't come to theatres in Florida or Texas or Iowa or wherever, can now get the film from Netflix or Amazon or whatever outlet they choose.  (PS - If a film doesn't come to your town or state, it's not because filmmakers or distributors are snobs, it's because your local art house won't book it - and that includes the vaunted Landmark chain.)

So, here's to the release of a project that means the world to me.  And here's a bit from Sunday's LA Times article by Sheri Linden on the DVD release:

CAN a documentary filmmaker paint a portrait of a rock star without using his subject's image or songs? Avoiding every convention of the form -- including such basics as performance footage -- AJ Schnack has done just that in "Kurt Cobain: About a Son," coming to DVD on Tuesday, the day before the late Nirvana frontman would have turned 41. In the process, he's created a work of startling intimacy...

Schnack was drawn to (Charles) Peterson's photographs because they're often "more about movement and light than portraiture." Taking a similar tack, he constructs an indelible biographical document that's as personal as it is oblique...

The film's visceral charge and poignancy rest upon its pairing of presence and absence. Cobain is unseen but fully felt -- much like any important artist who dies young."

From Michael Corcoran at the Austin American-Statesman:

"He was a father, a husband and a son who never really got over his parents' divorce. And yet most people know Kurt Cobain only as a heroin-addicted rock star who took his own life in April 1994, just three years after his band Nirvana raked arena-rock hair bands right back into the strip-mall rock boxes where they belonged. "Kurt Cobain: About a Son," a haunting and haunted film just out on DVD, does the implausible, showing the self-martyred "voice of a generation" as a human being."

Thanks to lots of folks, starting with my closest collaborators - Shirley, Wyatt, Charles, Steve, Ben, Linda, Dave and Wade - and also to Jared, Connie and Greg for helping to make our theatrical release possible.  And thanks to the folks at Shout! Factory for their hard work and for getting the film out to lots of people.

Also, thanks to everyone at Barsuk, who have bent over backwards to support this film in ways that are just staggering to me.  They did an amazing job with the soundtrack and now, today, they are releasing, via iTunes and other digital services, Steve Fisk and Ben Gibbard's original score to the film.  I'm so proud of the work that Ben and Steve did, that I couldn't be happier that it's getting its own release.  There will be a vinyl version available soon as well.

Five Month Photo Spectacular

For much of the past 14 months I've been on the road with my film.  And with this past weekend's sojourn to my old Missouri stomping grounds, that traveling is now starting to draw to a close.  With that, I realized that there have been a whole flock of photos that I never got around to posting from the past five months on the road - including pictures from our Seattle premiere in May, our screening at the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, our US theatrical premiere in New York as well as screenings in Philadelphia and the aforementioned Missouri.  So, with much (or little) fanfare, here's a recap of some of the past five months, starting with Seattle on June 2:

About A Son co-composer Steve Fisk and co-producer/author Michael Azerrad inside the W filmmaker lounge.

IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS director James Longley and legendary Seattle photographer Charles Peterson (and my About A Son co-conspirator) at the Barsuk Records-hosted after-party following our premiere.

Some of my crew at the after-party, including Eddie Adams (having a drink) and Ian Jennings (far right).  It was awesome to see everyone at the screening.

Moving on to St. Louis on July 22, when we did an advance screening at the Cinema St Louis Filmmakers Showcase:

Some of my pals from Edwardsville, Illinois join me for drinks after the screening at Blueberry Hill in the U-City Loop - Tree Ojeda, John Washburne, Nick Twesten and Julie Smith.

More Edwardsville friends - Mike and Stephanie Fedder.

Mark Bielik, Cliff Froehlich and Chris Clark, gurus of Cinema St Louis (and currently holding down the fort at the St Louis Film Festival) at Blueberry Hill.

Later that night, Nick Twesten man-handles my old pal Thad Summers as my newish pal Dave Johnson gets cell-photographic evidence.

Skip forward nearly two months to my short visit up to Nova Scotia for our screening at the Atlantic Film Festival on September 18:

Coming in by air...

...eating from the sea...

...dance party on the shore.

Center frame, the back of Norwood Cheek, my old friend and fine filmmaker who was in town to conduct a music video workshop with local filmmakers in Halifax.

My host in Halifax, Leigh Meldrum, and I at an afternoon reception.  I had a lot to live up to as Leigh previously had been squiring Mr. Al Maysles around the festival.  Methinks I paled in comparison.

Just a couple weeks later I was back on the east coast and in New York City for the premiere of my film at the IFC Center (where it's still playing, FYI, on the weekends).

My old New York pals David Levine and Sherise Lee before the premiere.

Balcony Releasing's Greg Kendall, legendary filmmaker Murray Lerner, Balcony's Connie White and Michael Azerrad at the NYC post-premiere party.

Filmmaker Sarie Horowitz (THREE OF HEARTS), the Flaherty Seminar's Mary Kerr and filmmaker Rachel Libert (BEYOND CONVICTION).

Writer/filmmaker Jonny Leahan, Holly Herrick of the Sarasota Film Festival and filmmaker Jennifer Venditti (BILLY THE KID).

Woodstock Film Fest programmer (and frequent indieWIRE contributor) Michael Lerman, filmmaker/blogger Michael Tully (SILVER JEW), filmmaker Paul Lovelace (BORN TO LOSE) and producer Jessica Wolfson (CRAZY SEXY CANCER and more) react to some post-party karaoke action.

This is our last dance.  This is ourselves...

Two nights later in Los Angeles:

Filmmaker Dave Mendel, About A Son producer Shirley Moyers, About A Son cinematographer Wyatt Troll, About A Son sound editor Kyle Schember, yours truly and filmmaker Gabe Fleming at the LA post-premiere party.

Three of my oldest and dearest friends, Diane Munoz, Kimm Birkicht and Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser at the LA reception.

Two weeks later, I was in Philadelphia...

...where I got to hang out with my pals Joey Sweeney and Ruth Carpenter.

Then back to Manhattan the next night for a performance by Who Shot Hollywood - four 11 to 13 year old boys from Massachusetts who sound a bit like Supergrass - at CMJ.

Lead singer & bass player Lucas Kendall.

Drummer & backing voicalist Dana Kendall.

Finally, earlier this week at the Moxie Cinema in Springfield, Missouri...

...where I got to spend some time with Moxie guru Dan Chilton and filmmaker/blogger David Lowery...

...Moxie co-guru Nicole Chilton and True/False Film Fest's David Wilson.

And with that I got back to Los Angeles (after a detour to Branson, MO, about which I hope to have more to say at a later date) for a week of catching up before I head this Wednesday to Denver for the fest there.  Whew.  I've exhausted myself.

But thanks, as always, to all the friends who hung out with me along this journey - from September of 2006 to the present.  You are swell.

Now at About A Blog: New Cities & Reviews

Now playing over at our self-promoting first cousin blog once removed:  the latest on our current theatrical dates (including opening in Boston, Denver, Nashville, St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Springfield, MO), plus recent reviews from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Boston Globe.

I'm on the road this weekend in my old Missouri stomping grounds.  Come on out to screenings in St. Louis tonight and tomorrow and Sunday in Springfield and say hello.  Apologies for the lighter blogging while I'm on the road.

Chat Live With Me at WashingtonPost.com Friday AM

On the occasion of the opening of my film in Washington DC today, I will be doing a live chat/discussion over at WashingtonPost.com on Friday, October 26 at 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT.

Update: Chat's over.  But you can read the questions and answers here.

To join in or submit questions for AJ, click here.    While the purpose of the discussion is the film, I'd love to talk more broadly about nonfiction, so feel free to query accordingly.

Also, if interested, you can check out this lovely review from WaPo's Ann Hornaday.

Currently at About A Blog: Seattle Reviews & Screening Info

Right now over at the very Pacific Northwestern blog for the film - information on current theatrical engagements in Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Pasadena, highlights from a well considered and lengthy review by The Stranger's Sean Nelson, links to a review and article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  More theatrical announcements due shortly.  Thanks to all who came out during the first week of the film's run.

When Blogs Attract (and Other Documentary Quandries)

There are a couple of pieces I want to point to which, while writing about my new film, have also dealt with the interesting dance that I sometimes must maneuver as it relates to my work here at the blog and my take on the nature of nonfiction circa early October 2007.

Mark Olsen has a great piece in today's LA Times that dives into this headlong.  An excerpt:

"Though the blog began in the summer of 2005 as a direct outgrowth of working on "About a Son," it has since taken on a life of its own. Schnack has become something of an authority figure for the world of documentaries, covering various issues faced by nonfiction filmmakers. In particular, he has written about the recent changes to the Oscar qualifying rules for documentary features, giving close attention to the newly mandated 14-city theatrical rollout for all potential nominees. Unlike many in the documentary community, Schnack has largely been in favor of the rollout, because it promotes theatrical exhibition of documentary films.

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said that the rollout rules will likely be "streamlined" for next year, in no small part because of the response the academy has gotten from the documentary community, both online and in a series of meetings between AMPAS governors and filmmakers.

One sign of the growing influence of Schnack's blog is that while "About a Son" has played at more than 50 film festivals, the filmmaker has begun to be accredited as a journalist at some festivals where his work has not been shown.

It was while attending the influential Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina with "About a Son" this past spring that he really began to understand the way in which his online persona was beginning to bump up against his real work.

"I didn't really know who was reading it," he said of the blog. "I thought my friends and people looking for news about their own film, but when I got to Full Frame so many people came up to me who I'd never met and who are avid readers. People I would consider among the most powerful in our community in terms of being able to greenlight a project or grant money to a project. To find out they're reading was a bit surprising."

There is now a second blog strictly for "Kurt Cobain About a Son." When he started All These Wonderful Things it was without any intention of creating a sounding board for issues within the documentary community. A graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in broadcast journalism, Schnack's instincts were toward more reported work, and he naturally gravitated toward the issues that affect him as a filmmaker.

"It started as a kind of supplement to working on the film," he said, "and having an access point for people who'd be like, 'Oh, what's this new movie about Kurt Cobain?' And then it just continued to evolve and ends up being this other thing, almost exclusively about issues in nonfiction filmmaking. I don't really consciously think of how it splits up, but I think it's like 40% journalism, 40% advocacy and 20% my personal experiences in this world."

For Schnack, the issue of writing about the race for this year's documentary feature Oscar has already become a tricky one. In previous years he has extensively covered the buildup to the academy's announcement of a pre-nominations shortlist, handicapping the chances of various contenders. This year, he is largely having to beg off for fear of appearing to put his thumb on the scale for "About a Son."

And in a lengthy interview with GreenCine's Francine Taylor, I talked about how difficult it is even for me to draw distinctions between varied work in the nonfiction/documentary realm:

I think that not knowing allows you to go with the flow of the film and it's not as distracting from the audio. Kind of a layered-together thing like two notes of a chord. And less what we think of like a traditional documentary. Would you call this a documentary or a nonfiction film?

I call it a nonfiction film. I actually think that nonfiction is a larger definition that I tend to use generally. When I think of documentary, I think of more of a traditional, journalistic approach of something.

This is more poetic, for example.

There are a lot of films that have nonfiction elements to them, which are maybe in my brain. And actually, I write about nonfiction film - sort of my side gig.

Your blog.

Yeah, yeah. But it's like, and I actually just wrote this, that I don't know if I could explain what the difference is.

Nonfiction just feels like a better description?

Like BILLY THE KID for example. I think I feel comfortable calling it a documentary, but it feels more like a nonfiction film to me. Because I think there are things that [Jennifer Venditti] did that affected how she shot that film and how she made that film.

There's this great movie I just saw, great doc, THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM. To me, that's a classic example of something than is more of a non-fiction film than a documentary. Because it's so composed and structured, and taking advantage of all the skills one can make as a filmmaker.

In the last 10 years, people are taking more interest in, whether you call it documentary or nonfiction film, with cable channels and more theaters willing to distribute - for example, after the success of MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. It's an evolving form.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is a great example. That's one I would classify more as nonfiction than as documentary. Here's something that is a scripted piece with narration and they are taking real events as they study them and turning them into this love story, or the story of family, that is constructed from what they've seen.

Which is why these films may be finding more of an audience. I've always loved documentaries, but used to get frustrated when they were nominated for Oscars yet you couldn't see them. It seems like a great time for nonfiction films because they can take on more identity and have more creative freedom.

You look at what Brett Morgen is doing you look at what Jason Kohn did in MANDA BALA. These are people using real film technique and telling real stories. They aren't afraid of using every cinematic skill they have to tell these stories. That to me is the most exciting thing in terms of what is happening in nonfiction. That doesn't mean to say that I'm not blown away by a film like TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE. It has stylistic elements that are really great. But it's a very classic, journalistic breaking down of a story.

THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, very similar. Those are exciting to me. But I would probably classify them - if I were making these determinations - I probably would say they are more the world of documentary.

On a Warm October Night in Manhattan

Thanks to all who turned out Wednesday for the opening night of our film at the IFC Center in New York.  It was a wonderful time and great to see so many people out for the movie as well as at our late-night get-together.

Friday night, I will be joined by the film's producer Shirley Moyers at the LA theatrical opening at the Nuart.  We will be doing Q&As at both evening screenings on Friday and Saturday.  Meanwhile, still in NYC, Cobain interviewer, renowned music journalist and co-producer Michael Azerrad will be doing Q&As at the 8:10 PM screenings on Friday and Saturday.

Lots more over at About A Blog, including lots of recent reviews and features.

What to Say on a Day Like Today

There are, even in the lives of the most prolific of filmmakers, few days in one's life when your film opens.  And even in the case of an "I think I can, I think I can" indie like ours, where the film opens today in New York City, Friday in Los Angeles and then in waves around the country, a day like today is truly like crossing a finish line.  Maybe even more so, in that the finish line is one that could only be reached by the hard work of a number of people who literally willed a theatrical release into existence.

So thanks to Connie and Greg at Balcony for truly believing in the film, Jared at Sidetrack for staying on top of it these many months, Van, Josh, Ever and all at Barsuk for going beyond their work on our soundtrack and helping to spread the word for the film, Nancy and Elizabeth for being able representatives to our friends in the press and all those who have written about the film and all those who have booked the film to screen in their towns.

Thanks to my amazing crew for giving their all to this project - my cinematographer Wyatt Troll, photographer Charles Peterson, composers Steve Fisk and Ben Gibbard, music supervisor Linda Cohen and Wade Harpootlian and Dave SImmons at Tomorrow's Brightest Minds.

My eternal thanks to Michael Azerrad for trusting in this vision for the film, for handing to me something that was so precious to him.  It's one of the great honors of my life, truly.

And, finally, to my esteemed partner and producer Shirley Moyers.  Her handiwork is in each moment in the film, each location, each frame.  Our biggest challenge in arriving in the state of Washington - and making a film about Kurt Cobain no less - was the scope and the scale, shooting in literally hundreds of locations to collect the images that you will see flickering before you.  And only a great producer like Shirley could see that challenge, look at our limited budget and schedule, and dive in undeterred.  It would have been impossible to make this film without her.

There are updates over at About A Blog, including new reviews and article links, so feel free to wander over and take a look.  And thanks to you, in advance, for coming out, seeing the film, bringing friends.  Your support both online and off means a great deal.

Recaps on this week, with photos, coming in the next few days...

Brand New Theatrical Trailer, Website and Theatrical Dates at About A Blog

As we countdown to less than 10 days before the US theatrical opening of Kurt Cobain About A Son (in NYC at the IFC Center), we note that over at our sister blog, there's an updated list of theatrical dates (Austin! Salt Lake! Omaha! Springfield!), a post about our (finally) updated website and one about what happens when you're the MySpace Featured Filmmaker featured filmmaker, as well as the new theatrical trailer.  You can click over for all of the former but if you want to catch the latter, here it is in all its YouTube glory.

Tom Hall, Karina Longworth and Agnes Varnum Step Up to the Challenge

The About A Son Soundtrack challenge that I wrote about yesterday kicked off almost immediately yesterday when Tom Hall, Karina Longworth and Agnes (Aggie V) Varnum dusted off their musical memories. 

Tom, who somehow manages to turn even this exercise into a showcase for his excellent and comprehensive blog (cut it out, Tom, you're making us all look bad), posts descriptions AND YouTube links for each of his tracks.  My favorite inclusion?  The Spinanes, the dreamy Portland, Oregon duo fronted by Rebecca Gates, who's album Manos kicked off with one of the best 1-2-3 punches in all of early '90s indie rock - 1. Entire, 2. Noel, Jonah & Me and 3. Spitfire.

Karina uses the film's chaptering of Kurt Cobain's life by the cities in which he lived for her list, which includes soundtracks for her days in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.  Favorite cuts?  Scott Walker's It's Raining Today (which gives me a good reason to point to Stephen Kijak's excellent SCOTT WALKER: 30th CENTURY MAN) and the Breeders' Metal Man.

indieWIRE and docitout's Agnes Varnum split the difference.  She provides the links for her songs but no explanations:

"After all, sometimes it’s more fun to guess why something might mean something to another person (like people tend to do for stars like Cobain) or to try to figure how it might have contributed to how we are now."

Since I'm in one of my recurring Emmylou Harris fixations at the moment, not-so-coincidently coinciding with the release of her epic Songbird box, I'll point to Aggie V's choice of Harris' Timberline as a personal favorite.

Now Tom, Karina and Aggie have each challenged two more people - and I know of at least three responses that are imminent from the original challengees.  I'll keep linking as they respond, until it gets so exponentially out of control that everyone's head spins.

The About A Son Soundtrack Challenge

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to Annie Zaleski at the Riverfront Times in St Louis (my hometown arts and culture weekly, since gobbled up in the Village Voice/New Times/Google/NewsCorp/Citibank mergers) and we were having a lovely conversation about the new soundtrack for my upcoming film, KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON (the soundtrack came out a week ago on Barsuk Records, the movie has its theatrical premiere a week from tomorrow at the IFC Center in NYC).

Towards the end of the interview, Annie - who had seen the film and knew that it contained the music of bands that were important to Kurt rather than his own music - threw down the guantlet, as she explains in this blog post:

In a similar fashion, I asked Schnack what songs would be on the soundtrack to his life. He had this to say:

"My mom and dad ran a summer camp, in Grafton, Illinois. So there would have to be a camp song in there. There’s one we sang all the time when we were done for the night, called ‘I Love the Flowers.’ It might even have Christian overtones, an old traditional folky song. There’s a line in it that ends with, “All these wonderful things,” cause that’s how the song ends."

There was a long pause after that, and Schnack laughed and said he had to call me back with more song ideas. A few hours later, I received a list of the following songs in my inbox -- all representing (ostensibly) the different periods in Schnack's life.

[ed note: You'll note that "I Love the Flowers" contains the lyric that gives this blog its name.]

It was actually lots of fun to do (I could probably have added at least 6 more songs - as exists in About A Son) and so (with inspiration from my pal Ryan), I've decided to challenge a few of my favorite film bloggers to come up with their own lists, the soundtracks to their own lives.

Here are the rules:

1.)  It must reflect music from each part of your life, including childhood, awkward pre-teen years, all the way up to your current existence
2.)  It should be music that is not just your favorite songs, but also things that make sense thematically
3.)  It cannot be your own music
4.)  Challenge at least 2 other bloggers to do the same.

So, I hereby issue the challenge to Matt Dentler, Tom Hall, Eugene Hernandez, Karina Longworth, David Lowery, Anne Thompson, Michael Tully and Agnes Varnum. 

Now, in case you didn't click on the link, here is my list (Annie has YouTube links for selected songs on her blog):

1. Traditional Camp Song, "I LOVE THE FLOWERS" (a.k.a. Boom De-A-Da)

2. Harry Chapin, "CATS IN THE CRADLE"

3. Journey, "OPEN ARMS"

4. Talking Heads, "ROAD TO NOWHERE"

5. Violent Femmes, "GOOD FEELING"

6. Pixies, "MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN"

7. Superchunk, "THE QUESTION IS HOW FAST"

8. The Lemonheads, "MY DRUG BUDDY"

9. Liz Phair/Muzzle, "FUCK AND RUN"

10. R.E.M., "NIGHTSWIMMING"

11. Jawbreaker, "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH IT'S KILLING US BOTH"

12, Wilco, "NOTHING'SEVERGONNASTANDINMYWAY(AGAIN)"

13. Joni Mitchell, "FREE MAN IN PARIS"

14. Ike and Tina Turner, "RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH"

One Year Ago, Six Years Ago and Today

With all our reporting on this year's Toronto International Film Festival, we couldn't help thinking about the world premiere of our own film - KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON - at the festival one year ago.  365 days ago - to the minute - as I write this, we were still celebrating and dancing at the very fun party we had at the Drake Hotel.  It's hard to believe that the film that I had in my head for so long, had now been public for a full calendar year, and I'm glad that soon (three weeks from tomorrow), it will finally open at the IFC Center in New York.

Six years ago in New York was a landmark moment in the making of my first film, GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS), and as I write this, my producer/partner Shirley Moyers and I were eating a very late dinner, still basking in having wrapped our shooting with They Might Be Giants, after they had played an midnight in-store performance at the Greenwich Village Tower Records (now closed).  They were celebrating the release of their new album, Mink Car, which was released the next day, September 11.  Not thinking anything particular of that night - other than the fact that we were wrapping our work with the band - we ended up capturing their cover performance of the Cub track "New York City", which ended up being an emotional moment at the end of the film that no one could have predicted.

And today, September 11, 2007 - bringing it all full circle - Barsuk Records releases Kurt Cobain About A Son: Music From the Motion Picture.  It's a record that I'm very proud of, since choosing the songs for the film were one of my favorite parts of making ABOUT A SON.  And I'm grateful to all the amazing artists who allowed us to use their music in the film and/or on the soundtrack.

I hope you'll check it out.

Here's an excerpt from Ned Raggett's review at the OC Weekly:

Set to a variety of images and filmed segments of the towns in which Cobain lived and worked, the film features a soundtrack containing no music from his band, but instead mostly draws on those performers and peers from whom he took inspiration. As such, it functions almost as a ghostly, Cobain-hosted radio show, with occasional snippets from the tapes interspersed among the songs, most clearly when his discussion of Scratch Acid leads into that group’s demented semi-ballad “Owner’s Lament.”

Soundtrack producers Linda Cohen and AJ Schnack (the film’s director) do an excellent job at sequencing the soundtrack, giving new context to many numbers. Hearing Creedence Clearwater Revival’s still-thrilling “Up Around the Bend” helps show how Cobain took inspiration from the group, while placing it between Bad Brains’ frenetic hardcore classic “Banned in D.C.” and Half Japanese’s goofy sex song “Put Some Sugar On It” rescues the Creedence number from the dull classic-rock universe in which it’s been mired for years. Meanwhile, the cover of Beat Happening’s “Indian Summer” by Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service singer Ben Gibbard that closes the disc gently reveals how the general play of Cobain’s influences continues.

Once again, here is the tracklisting:

Steve Fisk & Benjamin Gibbard — Overture
"Never intended" [interview excerpt]
Arlo Guthrie — Motorcycle Song
The Melvins — EyeFlys
"Punk rock" [interview excerpt]
Bad Brains — Banned in D.C.
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Up Around the Bend
Half Japanese —  Put Some Sugar On It
The Vaselines — Son of a Gun
Butthole Surfers — Graveyard
"Hardcore was dead" [interview excerpt]
Scratch Acid — Owner's Lament
Mudhoney — Touch Me I'm Sick
"Car radio" [interview excerpt]
Iggy Pop — The Passenger
Lead Belly — The Bourgeois Blues
R.E.M. — New Orleans Instrumental No. 1
"The limelight" [interview excerpt]
David Bowie — The Man Who Sold the World
Mark Lanegan — Museum
Benjamin Gibbard — Indian Summer

 

Recently at About A Blog...

At the all-about-ourselves cousin, there are not one but two new high res stills from the film (including, in one case, a comparison between the scout photo that I took and the image that's actually in the movie), a reflection on a conversation I had with my cinematographer Wyatt Troll on the eve of last year's Toronto International Film Festival, AND since we're in the Toronto spirit, a clip of MuchMusic's report on the About A Son premiere at TIFF last year.

Recently at About A Blog: New Theatrical Dates, DocuWeek Info, Interviews

A primer of what's new and recent over at our self-promotional cousin blog:  A lengthy interview conducted by fellow blogger Sujewa Ekanayake while we were at Silverdocs, a handful/smattering of new theatrical dates for this fall (go Philly, go Boston, go DC, go Denver, go Nashville, go StL) and all the pertinent DocuWeek screening info for About A Son.

Coming soon - more pictures, more dates, a new website, trailer and poster.  Oh yeah, and less than a month to the release of our soundtrack via Barsuk Records.

Giving Birth: About A (New) Blog

With the theatrical release of my film coming later this fall, there will undoubtedly be information that cries out, just cries out, for your attention.  But as I don't want to turn this blog into an all-About A Son, all the time, resource (just as I also don't want to ignore the obviously important stuff going on as it relates to said film), I'm launching a sub-blog that will deal with all things Kurt.  Meanwhile, we will continue our regular focus over here at All these wonderful things, with occasional updates and links to stuff recently posted over at our film-centric offspring. 

In our first round-up, head over to About A Blog to check out a recent review from the Riverfront Times of St. Louis, information on our screening in the Gateway City this weekend, a photograph from the film and a scene from the film that popped up on YouTube a few months ago, which for some strange reason I've never embedded here at this site.

CineVegas 2007: There's a Stripper Pole in the Shower

Part 3 of 4 in my series of reports on the June Film Festival Frenzy (TM).  Part 2 (Newport) can be found here.  Parts 1 and 4 still to come.  I'm George Lucas like that.

I arrived in Las Vegas last Monday, less than 14 hours after I had arrived back in Los Angeles from my voyage to Newport, and the transition between the two festivals was, in a way, strikingly easy.  Both are exceptionally well run and filmmaker friendly.  Of course, there are certain, obvious differences, the title of this blog post being just one, incredibly true, example.

When I tell people about CineVegas and the reasons why I think it's one of the very best festivals I've been to during this nine month festival run I've been on, it usually boils down to this description:

You stay at the Palms Resort and Casino.  You get up at some point and go downstairs to the filmmaker lounge, where you grab some coffee and check your email.  Then you head out to the pool and have a margarita.  Then you go inside, cross through the casino and head to the Brendan Theatres at the other end of the complex and watch a movie.  There is no need to pre-reserve tickets.  You just show your badge as you walk in.  Movies mostly play (during the week at least) during three time periods - the 3 PM hour, the 6 PM hour and the 9 PM hour.  You have a choice of three movies.  After your first movie, you either go back out to the pool or you stop in to the filmmaker lounge for a drink and happy hour snacks.  Then you go to another movie.  When that one is done, you hop in a shuttle which takes you to a party at another casino.  When that's done, you go to a second party.  And when that's over, you find yourself inside a suite in the Palms Fantasy Tower, wherein you find the stripper pole in question, the one that's in a shower that has a window that opens to the bar area.  Sometime after this, you go to sleep.

Repeat.

There aren't many docs at CineVegas.  The first time I was at the fest (with my first film in 2002) there was a whole doc slate.  But it was a challenge to get folks to come.  Now though, everything was packed, even the few docs that they screened (we had many more people in our single screening than in 2 screenings 5 years ago).  I did get to see a few narratives I'd been wanting to see (although not Craig Zobel's GREAT WORLD OF SOUND, which played opposite me - again!), including Jeff Blitz' ROCKET SCIENCE, a charming high school story of debate team dreams (let the ROCKET SCIENCE v. THUMBSUCKER debates begin) and Amir Mann's THE FIFTH PATIENT, a twisty 24-like tale of terrorists and spies.

Here's a look at my 48 hours at CineVegas in pictures, including stops in the filmmaker lounge, Hard Rock pool area, Stratosphere (top and bottom), Palms, booze cruise and late night performance by TV Sheriff and the Trailbuddies (complete with confused dancers).  And featuring Craig Zobel, David Wilson, Peter Rieveschl, Barrett Farmer, my Aunt Betty and relatives of Trevor Groth!:

 

Thanks to Trevor, Mike and Morgan for a most excellent return to Vegas.  I'm gonna start making narrative films (or at least keep making Vegas-friendly nonfiction films) so that I can be back again and again.

Newport 2007: I Trust That You Are Courageous Enough to Do the Right Thing

Part 2 of 4 in my series of reports from the June Film Festival Frenzy (TM).  Q. Whatever happened to part 1?  A. No one promised these would be in order.

My voyage to Newport began almost two weeks ago, with a red eye flight to New York, a LIRR train into Penn Station (remarkably fast and cheap, remind me, why have I been taking a cab all these years?) followed by the scenic 3 hour train ride to Rhode Island.  Once there, I was rushed into town to get my filmmaker pass, rushed out to the random Courtyard by Marriott I was stationed in (I never did know the name of the town, other than that it was not Newport and it was near a Chili's and a Home Depot, which pretty much places it almost anywhere in America) and finally back to Newport, where I immediately joined a panel on music and film.

And we're off.

What followed was one of the highlights of the long festival tour we've enjoyed with the film, one of those great festival experiences where you see a bunch of good friends, you become better friends with people that you'd met at previous fests and, of course, you meet new people, some of whom you love immediately and some of whom, well, love themselves more intensely than you ever could.

Some of those I love (from left): juror/filmmaker Sarie Horowitz, DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK co-director Annie Sundberg, yours truly, BLINDSIGHT director Lucy Walker, A&E IndieFilms' Ryan Harrington, Newport director of programming David Nugent and juror/filmmaker Sascha Paladino.

I was particularly glad to hang out with filmmakers Michael Tully (SILVER JEW) and Craig Zobel (GREAT WORLD OF SOUND), whom I'd spent a little bit of time with in Sarasota, but really got to enjoy in Newport.  Also, psyched that I got to see Tully's film.  SILVER JEW, which premiered at SXSW, is deceptively simple.  Tully follows indie rock legend David Berman, leader of the Drag City band Silver Jews, as he embarks on a tour.  But therein lie the details that make Silver Jew so different from any number of other "bands on tour" docs.  First, Tully only follows Berman for a few days - but these days happen to be spent in Israel, which reveals itself to be a profoundly life-changing experience for Berman, who had ony recently converted to Judaism after a stint in rehab.  Second, this is Berman's first tour, his first-ever live shows, and we watch as an artist connects for the first time with an audience.

It is in this duality that the film excels.  The audience witnesses the film's subject coming face to face with himself, who he is and how he influences others as an artist, and what he believes about himself and his world as a person of faith.   In a few days, Tully captures a man coming alive with his own identity. 

Tully, Lucy Walker and TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE editor Sloane Klevin on the cliff walk.

I didn't get a chance to see GREAT WORLD OF SOUND in Newport.  Nor did I get to see it in CineVegas.  Strangely enough, my film about music (nonfiction) and Craig's film about music (fiction) were programmed against each other at each festival.  But hopes are high that I will see it next week at LAFF.  I also didn't get a chance to see Jeff Nichols' SHOTGUN STORIES, which many of my fellow filmmakers were raving about (it won the student jury prize, as well as the New American Cinema award at the recently concluded SIFF).

I did get a chance to go to numerous parties and events at Newport, of which I had been only partially prepared.  They turned out to be a happily endless series of ongoing house parties at mansions (or chateaus, take your pick) sprinkled throughout town.  On his blog, Michael Tully described this experience masterfully:

I stood on a porch on a mansion on a cliff above the water Friday evening, eating lobster and shrimp and sushi. While these festival experiences are great, for a sensitive person such as myself it is really, really, really hard to have these extreme ups and downs. I was in more mansions in two days than I've been in my entire life combined. And now I'm back in my room, realizing that I have forty-two dollars in my account and no food in my kitchen. I'm not complaining, just pointing out the strangeness of this lifestyle. It is e-x-t-r-e-m-e.

One thing that Tully forgot to mention was what happened after he, Lucy Walker and TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE editor Sloane Klevin experienced at the end of our long stroll/run/climb over Newport's famed Cliff Walk.  We came to a street miles from where we had began and I knew that my screening was less than an hour away.  None of us could get cell reception so that we could call the festival and request a lift.  So we walked to the end of a long residential street where what to our wondering eyes should appear but a trolley car, idling by, waiting to pick up a load of tourists from one of the many Newport mansion tours.  We asked for directions and he invited us aboard, asking us to move to the back and keep our conversations to a minimum, and not mention to his paying customers - a flock of ladies from Philly - that we were getting in on the end of their tour.  So we meandered back to town, hearing a bunch of great stories, told in classic Catskills entertainer fashion (Did you hear the one about Claiborne Pell?).

What follows now is some of that experience in photo form featuring the previously named Horowitz, Sundberg, Walker, Harrington, Nugent, Paladino, Tully and Klevin, as well as juror/filmmaker Katie Brown, DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK co-director Ricki Stern, juror/filmmaker Kristi Jacobsen and Newport's Sam Griffin, among others.

 
 
Before I even arrived in Newport, I was excited by David Nugent's amazing line-up of films, many of the best nonfiction films that have debuted at fests over the past nine months (really? I could have given birth - well, not me perhaps - since Toronto?) and I was honored to be included amongst them. 

The festival itself, which had been praised to me by others in advance, outpaced my expectations.  The staff was incredibly gracious (even if transportation was sometimes a little difficult to procure, particularly from my motel somewhere near Massachusetts) and the audiences warm and responsive.  And obviously the parties were pretty tremendous.

But, and maybe it was because the festival was celebrating its 10th year, staff changes were looming and old faces returning, there was a familial aspect to Newport that I hadn't expected and perhaps haven't seen at other festivals.  The same quality I mentioned at the top of this post - seeing old friends, making new ones - was reflected in the staff, the locals, the regulars.  It was a wonderful weekend.

Thanks to David, Sam and everyone for their remarkable hospitality.

Silverdocs Day 3

Slowly waking up to Saturday in Silver Spring, Maryland (apparently some Silverdocs revelers took it upon themselves to congregate and inbibe most loudly on the deck of the Courtyard Marriott until 4 am, awaking and annoying other Silverdocs attendees - I will leave it to your imagination to determine whether on which side of the divide I stood) and pouring a second cup of coffee down my gullet.  There are way too many good movies screening today than I can mention, but hopefully I will be able to pull myself outdoors and start watching some of them.

Tonight is kind of the end of it for me, the last of our US festivals (although there may be the occasional one off screening prior to our theatrical opening in the fall) for the Cobain film, and a final hurrah on this particularly intense festival run (Seattle to Newport to CineVegas to Silverdocs).  I have been taking way too many photos and hope to start posting them - as well as noting the many films that I have seen - sometime next week. In addition, we will be podcasting our Oscar Rules debate panel from yesterday. 

More soon...

A Brief Respite Before Silverdocs

Back in Los Angeles briefly today after two pretty amazing days at CineVegas and prior to my departure early tomorrow for Silverdocs.  I'll have much more to say about the June Festival Frenzy (TM) in the upcoming weeks (including a rash of pictures), but in the meantime, check out Michael Tully's detailed recap of our weekend in Newport, which still, somehow, only begins to scratch the surface of the many adventures that were had there, as well as Matt Dentler's early on the scene reports from Silver Spring, where the documentary community is beginning to gather.

But a brief word about CineVegas before I depart.  I attended the festival in 2002 with my first film, and returned in 2004, well, just because (it should be noted that CineVegas is one of only 3 out-of-town festivals that I've attended without having a film there - Sundance and True/False being the others).  And although I clearly had a great time (otherwise why go back), this year it felt like CineVegas had reached some kind of crazy new plateau for film festivals - incredibly well programmed, well-run, filmmaker friendly (more than friendly, more like filmmaker loving) and non-stop film, food, drink and enjoyment (not to mention being blasted into the air at 921 feet).  I think it's officially safe to say that it's one of my five favorite fests.  Kudos to Trevor,