Vidi This!

The 22nd annual Washington, DC International Film Festival begins next week and one of the more interesting offerings is on Friday, April 25th. That evening, the festival will screen Patti Smith: Dream of Life, a documentary by Steven Sebring. The website describes the film as "a hypnotic plunge, a breathing collage of this legendary musician/poet/painter/activist's philosophy and artistry that feels as if it sprang directly from her soul. A punk pioneer and spiritual child of Rimbaud, Blake, and Burroughs, Patti Smith's fierce poetry and rock music shook up New York's 1970s underground scene, and her work continues to be stirred organically by her rigorous mind, beloved artistic touchstones, and world events. Shot over 11 years, the film travels Smith's mystical interior terrain—the ideas, losses, and memories she wrestles with—and traces her outward adventures. Layered with mesmerizing recitations, music, and narration, the fluid journey incorporates performances, graveyard pilgrimages and political rallies, archival nuggets, and vérité moments with her working-class parents, children, and friends."

Here's a YouTube video with snippets of the film. As Patti and Steven will appear at the screening, it looks like I need to score a ticket!