Sometimes things catch me by surprise. For instance, I had no idea that Toronto’s North by Northeast music festival (patterned after Austin’s South by Southwest) also has a film festival component. The whole thing takes place this weekend, but tomorrow has two very promising screenings that I’m going to try to get to.
A.J. Schnack‘s film Kurt Cobain: About A Son has been getting rave reviews all over the place, and this might be the only opportunity to see this film on a big screen for a while. The film features audio interviews with Cobain recorded by writer Michael Azerrad for his biography Come As You Are, and Schnack has combined the audio with footage of Cobain’s three hometowns in Washington state (Aberdeen, Olympia, and Seattle). It’s said to be powerful stuff. Watch an excerpt from the film here. You can catch it at 7:00 pm tomorrow at the Royal Cinema (608 College Street).
Wasted Orient will be a different but no less memorable experience, if the trailer is anything to go by. Filmmaker Kevin Fritz follows Chinese punk band Joyside around the country as they drink, vomit, play some music, and generally despair over the Chinese music scene and life in general. It’s showing at 3:00pm tomorrow at the National Film Board Theatre (150 John Street).