Wolf Films/Strange Pictures, in association
with Rhino Entertainment, has announced that When You're Strange, the
first feature documentary about The Doors, will premiere at the Sundance Film
Festival on January 17 at 9 p.m., with additional screenings throughout the
week (see schedule below).
Award-winning writer-director Tom DiCillo’s film
uncovers historic, previously unseen footage from the seminal rock quartet
and provides new insight into the impact of their music and
artistic legacy.
The creative chemistry of drummer
John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and singer/songwriter
Jim Morrison, made The Doors one of America’s most iconic and influential rock
bands of the late 60s. Their influence continues to this day. When You're Strange is the first feature documentary to tell their
story from their perspective. Using footage shot between their formation in 1966 and Jim Morrison’s untimely death
in 1971, it follows the band from the corridors of UCLA’s film school, where
Manzarek and Morrison met,, through their formative days in the clubs and bars of Los Angeles and the Sunset Strip and on to the stages of sold-out
international venues.
Taking its title from the chorus of their hit “People
Are Strange,” the film chronicles the creation of The Doors’ six landmark
studio albums in just five years, as well as live performances.
Rare cinéma vérité footage offers an intimate glimpse into their musical
collaboration – and their offstage lives.
Says director Tom DiCillo,( who discovered Brad Pitt, and directed Living In Obliviion, Johnny Suede (Pitt's first movie), Box of Moonlight and Delirious, among others), "The Doors’ music is the rock equivalent to film. It has
great drama, sex, poetry, and mystery. Their music is for all those who’ve ever
felt the same way,"
Producer Dick Wolf adds, "Remember the phrase ‘If you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t
there?’ In ’66 I was a sophomore in college. I don’t remember that, but I do
remember the first time I heard The Doors that year. I'm still listening 42 years later and so is my 15-year old son. The Doors
will be remembered, and listened to, as long as people have ears.” Dick Wolf additionally booked the band in 1967 for a couple of early concerts.
He has gone on to be one of Hollywood's most influental and respected producers.
The soundtrack to When You're Strange, featuring classic
studio and live tracks from The Doors, will also be released in the summer of 2009
from Rhino Entertainment.
Additional credit for When You're Strange include producers John Beug, Door's managerJeff Jampol, and Peter Jankowski.
The Sundance Film Festival, founded by Robert Redford, is the premier showcase for U.S.and international independent films, held
each January in and around Park City, Utah.. Presenting approximately
120 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in seven distinct categories
and between 60 and 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has
introduced American audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the
past two decades, including sex lies and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, Hedwig
and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Trouble the Water and Central
Station.
Surviving Doors John Densmore, Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek will attend Sundance.
Public screenings for When You're Strange:
Sat. Jan 17 at 9:00 PM - Temple Theatre,Park City
– (Premiere Screening)
Sun. Jan 18 at 2:30 PM - Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Tue. Jan 20 at 6:00 PM - Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC
Wed. Jan 21 at 9:00 AM - Temple Theatre, Park City
Fri. Jan 23 at 6:15 PM - Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENING
Sun. Jan 18 at 9:45 PM – Yarrow 1, Park City
The movie then moves on to the Berlin Film Festival.
