Recent years have seen a rise in high-profile music documentaries, from ones that focus on a swath of history like Dave Grohl’s “Sound City” or ones that focus on a specific band or artist, like last year’s LCD Soundsystem swan song “Shut Up And Play The Hits.” Now, another New York band will be immortalized on the big screen; The National will help launch this spring’s Tribeca Film Festival as the focus of a brand new movie.
Helmed by Tom Berninger, “Mistaken For Strangers” — named for a song from their fourth album Boxer — follows the Brooklyn-based band during their tour supporting their critically acclaimed 2010 album High Violet, their biggest to date. The director, the younger brother of lead singer Matt Berninger, joined the band as a roadie for the long tour and brought along his camera to document the experience.
Most band documentaries are usually from the outside looking in, so it’ll be interesting how the film will play out since it involves close family members — other than the Berningers, the rest of the band is made up of two pairs of siblings. “What started as a pretty modest tour documentary has, over the last two and a half years, grown into something much more personal, and hopefully more entertaining,” added the director. “Mistaken For Strangers” has its worldwide premiere on Wednesday, April 17th and will be followed by a performance from the band. The National will release their sixth album, currently untitled, this May on 4AD. Check out the music video for the song “Mistaken For Strangers” below.
