Chicago – Doc10, the annual Chicago documentary film festival, opens on May 2nd, 2024, with a new documentary about the famous avant garde rock band entitled “Devo,” directed by Chris Smith. who will appear live, with the band participating via Zoom. Click Devo for more information and tickets.
This spirited and irreverent portrait of the legendary new wave ban Devo charts the unlikely rise of the musical innovators from Akron, Ohio. From Kent State radicals in the 1970s, galvanized by political unrest, to unlikely icons of the 1980s, featured in Honda Scooter commercials and mainstays of the early days of MTV … they are not men, they are Devo. The film is directed by Chris Smith, known for his breakout debut “American Movie,” and goes beyond the typical bio-doc to channel the absurdity and edginess of the sonic provocateurs of Devo, with the help of their own bizarre and hilarious archival materials. “Whip it,...
This spirited and irreverent portrait of the legendary new wave ban Devo charts the unlikely rise of the musical innovators from Akron, Ohio. From Kent State radicals in the 1970s, galvanized by political unrest, to unlikely icons of the 1980s, featured in Honda Scooter commercials and mainstays of the early days of MTV … they are not men, they are Devo. The film is directed by Chris Smith, known for his breakout debut “American Movie,” and goes beyond the typical bio-doc to channel the absurdity and edginess of the sonic provocateurs of Devo, with the help of their own bizarre and hilarious archival materials. “Whip it,...
- 4/30/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Nantucket Film Festival has set the lineup for its 2024 edition and will honor Emmy-nominated writer-producer Kerry Ehrin, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and Girls5Eva showrunner Meredith Scardino.
The 29th edition of the festival will open with Josh Margolin’s June Squibb-starrer Thelma, close with Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man and Jeff Zimbalist’s documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, about a daredevil couple who secretly filmed themselves climbing the world’s last super skyscraper. The festival will also continue its tradition of screening a Disney or Pixar film on its opening day, with a festival screening of Inside Out 2.
The festival also announced several honorees: Ehrin will receive the Excellence in Television Writing Award; Williams will receive the Career Achievement in Filmmaking Award and his latest feature Stamped From the Beginning, based on the book of the same name by Ibram X. Kendi,...
The 29th edition of the festival will open with Josh Margolin’s June Squibb-starrer Thelma, close with Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man and Jeff Zimbalist’s documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, about a daredevil couple who secretly filmed themselves climbing the world’s last super skyscraper. The festival will also continue its tradition of screening a Disney or Pixar film on its opening day, with a festival screening of Inside Out 2.
The festival also announced several honorees: Ehrin will receive the Excellence in Television Writing Award; Williams will receive the Career Achievement in Filmmaking Award and his latest feature Stamped From the Beginning, based on the book of the same name by Ibram X. Kendi,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chris Smith’s “Devo” will open the ninth edition of Chicago’s Doc10 documentary film festival on May 2.
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
The film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, charts the life of the art-movement-turned-band Devo from Akron, Ohio, through archival footage of the band and candid sit-down interviews with band members. Smith follows the band on their journey from Dadaist, Kent State radicals to unlikely icons of 1980s MTV. Currently celebrating their 50 years of De-Evolution Tour, Devo band members will join Doc10 in a live, virtual Q&a moderated by Wxrt’s Marty Lennartz.
Doc10, a four-day fest running May 2-5, features a selection of 10 documentaries making their Chicago premieres along with a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts. The fest is hosted by Chicago Media Project, a company that has generated more than $8.5 million in funding for documentary projects. Cmp has directly supported over 150 films including “Icarus,” “Crip Camp” and most recently “Gaucho, Gaucho,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Music movies are having a moment — if, indeed, they ever stopped having one. Take the pop-music biopic. There are times, like right now, when it surges in popularity, yet the form has never gone out of style. And music documentaries, a staple of the indie-film world, have only proliferated during the streaming era. This means that they have to compete for visibility, but a ton of them are getting made and (mostly) getting seen. They’ve become a happy epidemic.
A few, like “Amy” or “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?,” are popular and vital enough to have carved out a place in the culture — and, in the case of both those films, to have inspired the creation of a biopic. I have it on good authority that when you’re trying to put together a music documentary, the prospect of it spawning a biopic can be a key selling point.
A few, like “Amy” or “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?,” are popular and vital enough to have carved out a place in the culture — and, in the case of both those films, to have inspired the creation of a biopic. I have it on good authority that when you’re trying to put together a music documentary, the prospect of it spawning a biopic can be a key selling point.
- 3/24/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
There are loads of tantalizing Hollywood casting what-ifs. Tom Selleck would've played Indiana Jones had he not been previously committed to CBS' "Magnum P.I." Pierce Brosnan was set to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond after "A View to a Kill," but NBC, realizing the star of their just-canceled "Remington Steele," was a hot commodity, resurrected the show for a fifth season (after which it was canceled again). And there's always poor Dougray Scott, who had to give up the role of Wolverine in Bryan Singer's "X-Men" when "Mission: Impossible II" went over schedule.
These were franchise- and career-altering decisions. What would Harrison Ford have done after the conclusion of the "Star Wars" original trilogy in 1983? Would Brosnan have rejuvenated the flagging Bond series, thus averting the six-year retooling period between "License to Kill" and "GoldenEye?" Could Scott have connected with audiences as emphatically as Hugh Jackman did in the role of Logan?...
These were franchise- and career-altering decisions. What would Harrison Ford have done after the conclusion of the "Star Wars" original trilogy in 1983? Would Brosnan have rejuvenated the flagging Bond series, thus averting the six-year retooling period between "License to Kill" and "GoldenEye?" Could Scott have connected with audiences as emphatically as Hugh Jackman did in the role of Logan?...
- 1/31/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
There are a number of roles that we just can’t imagine anybody but the cast actor playing, and no doubt Christopher Lloyd as Emmett “Doc” Brown is near the top of the list. But if Back to the Future EP Steven Spielberg had gotten his way, the role would have gone to Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh.
Speaking at the Sundance Film Festival — which Mark Mothersbaugh attended in support of a new Devo doc (you can read our own Chris Bumbray’s 8/10 review here) – the composer remembered being approached by Spielberg and Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis after a concert, saying, “‘Hey we want to talk to you about something. We have a film we’re working on and we wanted to talk to you about working on it with us’…I just remember for, like, two weeks, I kept thinking, ‘They’re going to hire me to score their film.
Speaking at the Sundance Film Festival — which Mark Mothersbaugh attended in support of a new Devo doc (you can read our own Chris Bumbray’s 8/10 review here) – the composer remembered being approached by Spielberg and Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis after a concert, saying, “‘Hey we want to talk to you about something. We have a film we’re working on and we wanted to talk to you about working on it with us’…I just remember for, like, two weeks, I kept thinking, ‘They’re going to hire me to score their film.
- 1/28/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
The 40th edition of Sundance proved that despite corporate consolidation, there is still a market for independently made documentaries. While there haven’t been many sales so far, there has been strong buyer interest in two celeb-focused docs — “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper,” featuring Will Ferrell — and healthy interest in others.
“The market didn’t have a pulse six months ago,” says Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun, who came to the festival with nine documentaries seeking distribution, including “Daughters,” “Gaucho Gaucho” and “Union.” “So there was a reason to be a little bit fearful coming into Sundance. But now we are feeling a pulse. We are heading in a good direction. The patient still needs some treatment, but we are no longer in a Doa situation.”
While Submarine has not yet closed deals for any of the titles, Braun is optimistic, given the fact a...
“The market didn’t have a pulse six months ago,” says Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun, who came to the festival with nine documentaries seeking distribution, including “Daughters,” “Gaucho Gaucho” and “Union.” “So there was a reason to be a little bit fearful coming into Sundance. But now we are feeling a pulse. We are heading in a good direction. The patient still needs some treatment, but we are no longer in a Doa situation.”
While Submarine has not yet closed deals for any of the titles, Braun is optimistic, given the fact a...
- 1/27/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
First you get radicalized, then you get professionalized—a familiar trajectory Chris Smith’s Devo retells in a familiar idiom. After sitting down with dour conspiracy theorist Michael Ruppert for 2009’s Collapse, the American Movie director didn’t make a feature for eight years. He returned to begin his populist doc era with 2017’s Jim & Andy, which made generous use of previously unseen videos of Jim Carrey acting like a maniac “in character” as Andy Kaufman on the set of 1999’s Man on the Moon. In present-day interviews, Carrey described his dilemma: having given a performance at a relatively young age that confirmed […]
The post Sundance 2024: Devo, War Game, Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2024: Devo, War Game, Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/25/2024
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
First you get radicalized, then you get professionalized—a familiar trajectory Chris Smith’s Devo retells in a familiar idiom. After sitting down with dour conspiracy theorist Michael Ruppert for 2009’s Collapse, the American Movie director didn’t make a feature for eight years. He returned to begin his populist doc era with 2017’s Jim & Andy, which made generous use of previously unseen videos of Jim Carrey acting like a maniac “in character” as Andy Kaufman on the set of 1999’s Man on the Moon. In present-day interviews, Carrey described his dilemma: having given a performance at a relatively young age that confirmed […]
The post Sundance 2024: Devo, War Game, Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2024: Devo, War Game, Girls State first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/25/2024
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
As my 13-year-old son and I browsed a Buffalo, NY, record shop on a recent Saturday morning, his eyes were drawn to two action figures dangling from the wall. Both were from the popular ReAction toy line, known for its delightfully offbeat takes on pop-culture icons as diverse as Joe Strummer, Megan Rapinoe, Jimi Hendrix, the Creature From the Black Lagoon, and late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. The two figures my son grabbed confounded him even more than the Dee Snider hanging nearby. One of them was an intense, glasses-sporting figure brandishing a whip while wearing a red flower pot on his head. The other clutched a guitar while wearing shades and a yellow jumpsuit. “Devo,” I said happily, while starting to ponder this most unique and easily identifiable group.
What’s with the outfits? How did this band become so iconic? What did they do beyond “Whip It”? These are legitimate questions,...
What’s with the outfits? How did this band become so iconic? What did they do beyond “Whip It”? These are legitimate questions,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
I will never forget the first time I saw Devo. It was October 14, 1978, and my college roommates and I were watching “Saturday Night Live.” The band, which I had never heard of (I would guess that was true of 98 percent of the people watching the show), came on in their yellow jumpsuits, stiff and mechanical, swiveling like angry androids as they performed their brutalist robo version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” When the song ended, one of the band members shot up his hand in what looked kind of like a Hitler salute. At this point, the punk revolution was old news, and the new wave was in full swing. I had eaten up the apocalyptic barbed anarchy of the Sex Pistols; I reveled in the Ramones, the Clash, Talking Heads, you name it. But I’m not remotely exaggerating when I say that Devo doing “Satisfaction” on...
- 1/25/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Plot: The story of new wave band Devo, who rose to fame from their smash hit “Whip It.”
Review: If all you know about the band Devo is that they were those guys in the weird hats singing “Whip It,” you need to check out this doc from Chris Smith. In addition to making the cult fave American Movie, Smith has made several notable music documentaries over the years, including the recent Netflix documentary about Wham, but he has unique subjects here.
To put it bluntly, the members of Devo are among the most unlikely rock stars of all time. The brainchild of Kent State art students Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis, along with their friend Mark Mothersbaugh, the band began as a performance art satire. In early shows, they would play droning sounds and punish their audience, with Devo short for de-evolution, which was their take on the culture.
Review: If all you know about the band Devo is that they were those guys in the weird hats singing “Whip It,” you need to check out this doc from Chris Smith. In addition to making the cult fave American Movie, Smith has made several notable music documentaries over the years, including the recent Netflix documentary about Wham, but he has unique subjects here.
To put it bluntly, the members of Devo are among the most unlikely rock stars of all time. The brainchild of Kent State art students Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis, along with their friend Mark Mothersbaugh, the band began as a performance art satire. In early shows, they would play droning sounds and punish their audience, with Devo short for de-evolution, which was their take on the culture.
- 1/24/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
For American Gen X’ers of a certain stripe, Chris Smith’s “Devo” is a trip through time, but even viewers unfamiliar with the deadpan music group are likely to emerge as loyal converts. A zippy, zany, whip(it)-smart documentary, it details the formation of Ohio’s New Wave enfants terribles — and is also the far superior of the two Sundance docs this year to feature U2 producer Brian Eno (albeit in a much smaller role than in “Eno”).
Smith sets the stage via sit-down interview by letting the group’s key founders — Gerald “Jerry” Casale and “Rugrats” composer Mark Mothersbaugh — detail not only their initial meeting in 1970, but the era’s political frustrations too, out of which Devo would soon be born. From the Vietnam War abroad, to the Kent State Shooting on their own campus, Casale and Mothersbaugh sought to channel their frustrations, and their tongue-in-cheek perspective...
Smith sets the stage via sit-down interview by letting the group’s key founders — Gerald “Jerry” Casale and “Rugrats” composer Mark Mothersbaugh — detail not only their initial meeting in 1970, but the era’s political frustrations too, out of which Devo would soon be born. From the Vietnam War abroad, to the Kent State Shooting on their own campus, Casale and Mothersbaugh sought to channel their frustrations, and their tongue-in-cheek perspective...
- 1/23/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Indiewire
“This documentary is just to try and get some of the information down on film somewhere, before it’ll scatters away,” admits Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh of the documentary about the band that premieres at the Sundance Film Festival tonight. “I just like the idea that this information is being collected,” the front man adds.
In a festival full of music documentaries this year on legends like Luther Vandross, Brian Eno and the star studded 1985 recording of “We Are the World,” the Chris Smith directed Devo may hit even a little bit closer to home. After all, the film represents a return to Park City for the band. Back in 1996, Devo was the off-screen closing act of sorts to that year’s Sundance Film Festival. Clad in prison stripes and their trademark Red Energy Dome hats, the “Whip It” band’s performance was even made into a movie of its...
In a festival full of music documentaries this year on legends like Luther Vandross, Brian Eno and the star studded 1985 recording of “We Are the World,” the Chris Smith directed Devo may hit even a little bit closer to home. After all, the film represents a return to Park City for the band. Back in 1996, Devo was the off-screen closing act of sorts to that year’s Sundance Film Festival. Clad in prison stripes and their trademark Red Energy Dome hats, the “Whip It” band’s performance was even made into a movie of its...
- 1/22/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
There has only ever been one Devo — and there will likely never be another. The new wave band best known for their 1980 megahit “Whip It” was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1973, when two sets of brothers — Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald and Bob Casale — met at Kent State University and decided to create an art collective.
The name came from the concept of “de-evolution,” a kind of reverse Darwinism that posited, tongue in cheek, that humankind was moving backwards. But then they bore witness to the infamous Kent State Massacre on May 4, 1970, in which Ohio National Guardsmen killed four unarmed student war protesters — pushing Devo into the realm of performances and protest art. Along the way, they created surrealist art videos to accompany their music, including 1976’s short film The Truth About De-Evolution, which became an underground phenomenon, drawing the attention of David Bowie and landing them a record deal at Warner.
The name came from the concept of “de-evolution,” a kind of reverse Darwinism that posited, tongue in cheek, that humankind was moving backwards. But then they bore witness to the infamous Kent State Massacre on May 4, 1970, in which Ohio National Guardsmen killed four unarmed student war protesters — pushing Devo into the realm of performances and protest art. Along the way, they created surrealist art videos to accompany their music, including 1976’s short film The Truth About De-Evolution, which became an underground phenomenon, drawing the attention of David Bowie and landing them a record deal at Warner.
- 1/19/2024
- by Seth Abramovitch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Devo will be coming to the Sundance Film Festival in more ways than one.
Just one day after the Chris Smith directed documentary about the New Wave bad makes its Sff debut in Park City on January 21, Devo will be taking the stage at the newly opened Marquis on the luxury ski town’s Main Street, I’ve learned.
A $50 a pop for general admission and $150 for VIP, tickets for the gig should be going on sale now. Asa Dave Grohl and Nick Cave can tell you, Sundance has long a magnet for big name bands and performers with films on their careers, so the Devo show was rumored ever since Sff’s line-up was revealed on December 6.
Coming off the Mark Mothersbaugh-led band’s 50th anniversary last year, the gig opening for Paul Oakenfold is bit of a return to an old stomping ground for the “Whip It” boys.
Just one day after the Chris Smith directed documentary about the New Wave bad makes its Sff debut in Park City on January 21, Devo will be taking the stage at the newly opened Marquis on the luxury ski town’s Main Street, I’ve learned.
A $50 a pop for general admission and $150 for VIP, tickets for the gig should be going on sale now. Asa Dave Grohl and Nick Cave can tell you, Sundance has long a magnet for big name bands and performers with films on their careers, so the Devo show was rumored ever since Sff’s line-up was revealed on December 6.
Coming off the Mark Mothersbaugh-led band’s 50th anniversary last year, the gig opening for Paul Oakenfold is bit of a return to an old stomping ground for the “Whip It” boys.
- 1/4/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: There’s some more change at Fremantle, this time in the documentary space.
Mandy Chang is stepping back from her role as Global Head of Documentaries, two and a half years after joining the Rtl-owned company.
However, she is staying in the Fremantle family as she will continue to run Undeniable, the documentary label that it launched earlier this year.
In response, Mark Reynolds, who previously worked at BBC Studios, will take over as Interim Global Head of Documentaries, starting in January.
Elaine Morris, who is head of production, and Bernie Kay will report to Reynolds when he starts on January 8. Reynolds himself will report to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe.
“Mark will continue to support the growth of our documentaries business and drive collaboration across our production companies and labels around the world,” Scrosati wrote in an internal email seen by Deadline.
Mandy Chang is stepping back from her role as Global Head of Documentaries, two and a half years after joining the Rtl-owned company.
However, she is staying in the Fremantle family as she will continue to run Undeniable, the documentary label that it launched earlier this year.
In response, Mark Reynolds, who previously worked at BBC Studios, will take over as Interim Global Head of Documentaries, starting in January.
Elaine Morris, who is head of production, and Bernie Kay will report to Reynolds when he starts on January 8. Reynolds himself will report to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe.
“Mark will continue to support the growth of our documentaries business and drive collaboration across our production companies and labels around the world,” Scrosati wrote in an internal email seen by Deadline.
- 12/15/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSNotebook readers, rejoice—the Mubi Shop has launched anew in the US and UK, and you can finally broadcast your love for the world’s sharpest international film criticism via this stylish, crisply screen-printed Notebook tote bag, featuring a clapperboard calligram design. Also in the store is a Cannes Film Festival–themed print by Dutch artist and cartoonist Joost Swarte, which was commissioned for our limited-edition print broadsheet issue of Notebook, distributed in Cannes.Sundance announced its lineup last week, including new films from Jane Schoenbrun, Steven Soderbergh, Debra Granik, Yance Ford, Brett Story, and more. This will be the first Sundance under the directorship of Eugene Hernandez, formerly of Film at Lincoln Center.Keep that winter coat handy—the Berlinale has announced that Lupita Nyong’o will lead the jury.
- 12/13/2023
- MUBI
The lineup for the 2024 Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival has been announced, featuring headliners Devo, Madness, and Descendents. The 24th edition of the annual extravaganza will take place May 24th-27th at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.
Joining the headliners on the bill are Punk Rock Bowling first-timers Billy Bragg, Gogol Bordello, Rocket From the Crypt, The Chats, Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Destroy Boys, 999, Scowl, Bratmobile, Snooper, Cosmic Psychos, and more. Returning acts include Lagwagon, Stiff Little Fingers, The Subhumans, The English Beat, 7 Seconds, Skatalites, and Bad Cop/Bad Cop.
Four-day passes are available via the festival website for $200. If passes sell out, check on StubHub, where your purchase is 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s Fan Protect program.
Per a press release, “The festival goes beyond the musical realm. Attendees can enjoy vibrant pool parties, try their luck at gambling, and partake in the excitement of the thrilling bowling tournament.
Joining the headliners on the bill are Punk Rock Bowling first-timers Billy Bragg, Gogol Bordello, Rocket From the Crypt, The Chats, Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Destroy Boys, 999, Scowl, Bratmobile, Snooper, Cosmic Psychos, and more. Returning acts include Lagwagon, Stiff Little Fingers, The Subhumans, The English Beat, 7 Seconds, Skatalites, and Bad Cop/Bad Cop.
Four-day passes are available via the festival website for $200. If passes sell out, check on StubHub, where your purchase is 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s Fan Protect program.
Per a press release, “The festival goes beyond the musical realm. Attendees can enjoy vibrant pool parties, try their luck at gambling, and partake in the excitement of the thrilling bowling tournament.
- 12/12/2023
- by Spencer Kaufman
- Consequence - Music
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