NOW PLAYING: "PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE" AT NYC'S FILM FORUM

Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be on vacation.  But I checked my email and just got this in from Patti.  Being that I am both a huge Patti fan, I had to post this.  See what happens when an obsessive blogger checks their email while on vacay?

Check it out my you fusty old punks and Hazbin wannabees!:

www.filmforum.org

From the Patti Smith Newsletter:

"Patti Smith: Dream of Life" opens today at New York City's Film Forum for a limited two-week engagement.

Permit us to discard our usual dispassionate voice and urge those interested in Patti Smith and her work to see this film. Steven Sebring's movie, filmed over twelve years, is both entertaining and deeply moving, one of the most intimate portraits of an artist we have ever seen. If you are interested in Patti and her work, you will love "Patti Smith: Dream of Life".

Just today we learned that the film won the Best Documentary prize at the 29th Durban International Film Festival, with this citation:

"exquisitely and sensitively filmed, this documentary goes to the heart of its subject. It captures the passion, calm, poetry and venom of an incredible human being. The film weaves us through historically charged footage right through to the present and allows us glimpses at an uncompromising and consistent energy that has always believed in the empowerment of all."

Here is a message which director Steven Sebring sent yesterday:

Greetings,

It's twelve years since this project began and we really appreciate your interest and would like to thank you for your support with this update on the film Patti Smith: Dream of life.

It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it received the award for best cinematography in a documentary. It is currently scheduled to screen or has been shown at the following film
festivals:

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, PARK CITY UTAH, USA BERLINALE FILM FESTIVAL, GERMANY BOLOGNA, ITALY PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL, PENN. USA THESSALONKI FILM FESTIVAL, GREECE FULL FRAME DOCU. FESTIVAL CHAPEL HILL, USA NYON FILM FESTIVAL, SWITZERLAND BUENOS AIRES FILM FESTIVAL, BRAZIL ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL, TURKEY MADRID FILM FESTIVAL, SPAIN BANJALUKA FILM FESTIVAL, BOSNIA SEOUL FILM FESTIVAL, CHINA CLUJ TANSILVANIA, ROMANIA NOVISAD FILM FESTIVAL, SERBIA WASHINGTON DC FILM FESTIVAL, USA EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL, SCOTLAND ATHENS FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL, GA. USA MUNICH DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, GERMANY SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL, WA. USA JERUSALEM FILM FESTIVAL, ISREAL ERA NEW HORIZONS, POLAND DURBAN FILM FESTIVAL, SOUTH AFRICA PROVINCETOWN, MA. USA MILAN 2008 (SEPT 12 TO 21) VLADIVOSTOK 2008 (SEPT 13 TO 19) RIO DE JANEIRO (SEPT 25 TO OCT 9) MELBOURNE 2008 (OCT 9 TO 25) VIENNALE, AUSTRIA, 2008 (OCT 17 TO 29)

More are being added every day.

Please keep an eye on the film's website for reviews, locations and details as they are confirmed.

The International theatrical release dates will vary from country to country and city to city.

The first theatrical release was April 5th 2008 at the historical theatre LE CINEMA DU PANTHEON in Paris where it's scheduled to continue playing every Saturday for the next year. The French release of the film coincided with an enormous retrospective of Patti Smith's art, photography, and vision at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art Contemporian.

Dream of Life's American premiere was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York followed by a small performance in their garden.

The official theatrical release begins August 6th at

Film Forum
209 West Houston Street
New York NY.10014
Tel:(212) 627-2035
www.filmforum.org

and will continue to open nationwide.
The DVD will be available starting in 2009.

For those who would like info on Patti Smith events, appearances, tour dates, or to read a souvenance or coffee break, please feel free to do so at pattismith.net and Patti's MySpace page.

Be sure to check out the film's my space page www.myspace.com/dreamoflifethemovie.

Thanks again for all your support!

Steven Sebring

Dr. Smith and the Unique 2008 Commencement Exercises at NJ's Rowan University

The 2008 Commencement Exercise at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, weren't your run-of-the-mill pomp and circumstances. For one, the commencement address given by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. was one which gave it to the graduates straight up. Pitts told graduates: "Class of 2008, the sad truth is you are about to be turned loose into a world of stupid."

According to the Press of Atlantic City, Pitts went on to say;

Pitts jarred his audience from complacency with denouncements of a society littered with too many "intellectually lazy and morally unkempt" individuals "drugged" by technology, "a people hypnotized by a culture of acquisition and corporate values."
"We have more ways to say and yet less to say than ever before, more power and yet less willingness to use it than ever before," Pitts said. "We watch from the well of our own impotence as the world goes to hell. And when things seem most bleak, most hopeless, most dire, we shop. When the going gets tough, the tough go to the mall.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Pitts continued, "peace is not for sale at the mall. Justice is not for sale at the mall. Progress is not for sale at the mall. The things that enable you to look at yourself in the mirror and know that you are a worthwhile person, a contributor to this experiment called humanity, those things are not for sale at the mall. They come when you work for them, they come when you fight for them, they come when you plant trees."


If that wasn't inspiration enough for the class of '08, the lucky graduates got to witness the legendary Punk Priestess, Patti Smith, collect an honorary degree. Smith dropped out of the university - then known as Glassboro State 40 years ago to head to NYC for greater challenges. Of course, those challenges were met head on. In addition to her 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as being awarded one of the highest French cultural honors; Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters, Smith now has the title of "Doctor" to add to her impressive dossier.

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE TO PLAY AT NYC'S FILM FORUM

From Patti Smith's website:

Steven Sebring's film "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival will premiere in NYC at the Film Forum. It is scheduled to run from 8/6/08 to 8/19/08.

A clip about the film from the Sundance Channel:

To view the actual "Dream Of Life" trailer click here.

I know it's a long way off but since PS has only european shows in the upcoming months, this is just about all of us fans can look forward to for now. Although, I guess we have this to hold us over:

Click here for another great r-n-r movie trailer.