patti smith dream of life
AVAILABLE ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME FROM 30 MARCH

‘Electrifiying’
Total Film
‘Riveting’
Mojo
‘Quite possibly the most intimate and revealing portrait of a rock icon ever put into film’
Nude
Steven Sebring first met Patti Smith when he photographed her for a Spin shoot in 1995. He spent the next eleven years filming her, and Patti Smith Dream of Life is the result – a plunge into the philosophy and artistry of the legendary singer and cult rocker. Patti Smith Dream of Life will be available on DVD for the first time from 30 March.
Known as the godmother of punk, Patti Smith emerged in the 1970’s, galvanizing the music scene with her unique style of poetic rage, music and trademark swagger. A poet whose energy and vision found its voice through music, Smith was ambitious, unconventional, and challenging, and her music was hailed as the most exciting fusion of rock and poetry since Bob Dylan’s heyday. Says Sebring: ‘She’s a rock star, a poet, an artist, a mother, an activist. She’s a folk hero. She’s been through a lot of tragedy and yet she has come through it. I can’t think of anyone who’s like her’
Unabashedly intellectual and creatively uncompromising, Smith became an icon to subsequent generations of female rockers, never relying on sex appeal for her success. Her career has been marked by extraordinary achievement, incendiary creative collaborations, and shocking tragedies.
Sebring’s documentary follows the multitalented and private artist over 11 years of international travel, through her spoken words, performances, lyrics, interviews, paintings and photographs. Capturing both Smith’s charged live performances and her informal interactions with friends and collaborators including Philip Glass and Michael Stipe, the resulting film is also a touching tale of survival, detailing as it does Smith’s recovery from the unexpected deaths in winter 1994 of her husband, Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith of the MC5, and her brother Todd.
Patti Smith Dream of Life is a touching and irreverent tribute and is, like its subject, forceful, funny, raw and original.