David Byrne's American Utopia

David Byrne's American Utopia

Spike Lee, David Byrne, and cinematographer Ellen Kuras join forces for this boisterous document of Byrne’s acclaimed Broadway show. David Byrne’s American Utopia blends the songwriter’s solo music with classics by Talking Heads for a life-affirming set of music and thought. Punctuated by the irreverent choreography of Byrne and his 11-strong band, all of them untethered to amplifiers and moving freely around a glitter-curtained stage, American Utopia dances to its own communal beat. A concert film innovator himself, Byrne uses the 22 songs on American Utopia to tell a universal, euphoric story of who we are and what we want.

DIRECTED BY: Spike Lee. WITH: David Byrne, Jacquelene Acevedo, Gustavo Di Dalva, Daniel Freedman. 2020. 105 min. USA. Color. English. DCP.


Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 

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