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True Stories

David Byrne  •   USA  • ​  1986
89 mins  •  HD  •   PG

​
The Talking Heads frontman made his directorial debut with this satirical, musical portrait of American life, plumbing the uncanniness of the suburban everyday with ‘aw-shucks’ gusto. 
 
“Deeply funny and free-spirited” – Rebecca Bengal, Criterion 
DIRECTOR: David Byrne
PRODUCER: Gary Kurfirst

PRODUCTION CO: True Stories Venture
​
SCREENPLAY: Stephen Tobolowsky, Beth Henley, David Byrne
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ed Lachman
EDITOR: Caroline Biggerstaff
MUSIC: Talking Heads
WITH:  Jame David Byrne (Narrator), John Goodman (Louis Fyne), Spalding Gray (Earl Culver), Annie McEnroe (Kay Culver), Swoosie Kurtz (Miss Rollings, The Lazy Woman), Pops Staples (Mr Tucker) 

REVIEWS

“Music icon David Byrne was inspired by tabloid headlines to make his sole foray into feature-film directing, an ode to the extraordinariness of ordinary American life and a distillation of what was in his own idiosyncratic mind. The Talking Heads front man plays a visitor to Virgil, Texas, who introduces us to the citizens of the town during preparations for its Celebration of Specialness. As shot by cinematographer Ed Lachman, Texas becomes a hyperrealistic late-capitalist landscape of endless vistas, shopping malls, and prefab metal buildings. In True Stories, Byrne uses his songs to stitch together pop iconography, voodoo rituals, and a singular variety show—all in the service of uncovering the rich mysteries that lurk under the surface of everyday experience.”

– Criterion
​

“This being a one-man-band job for Byrne who writes, stars, and directs, True Stories still features a number of songs written by Byrne and performed by various members of the cast, as well as by Byrne’s band (the members of which make cameo appearances). This movie does what some painters try to do: it recasts ordinary images into strange new shapes. There is hardly a moment in True Stories that doesn’t seem everyday to anyone who has grown up in mid-America, and not a moment that doesn’t seem haunted with secrets, evasions, loneliness, depravity or hidden joy.”

​– International Film Festival Rotterdam 2008




FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Bigger Picture Ōamaru
Tuesday, 24 February, 7.00pm


Hamilton  
Monday, 09 March, 6.30pm​

Nelson
Wednesday, 18 March, 6.00pm

Carterton
Friday, 27 March, 7.30pm

Auckland  
Tuesday, 07 April, 6.15pm 

Dunedin 
Wednesday, 13 May, 6.00pm

Timaru
​Tuesday, 05 May, 6.30pm 

Palmerston North
Wednesday, 30 July, 6.00pm


Tauranga
Wednesday, 24 June, 6.00pm

Queenstown   
Tuesday, 01 September, 8.00pm​

New Plymouth   

Wednesday, 16 September, 6.00pm​

Whanganui   
Monday, 28 September, 7.00pm

Canterbury
Monday, 05 October, 7.00pm

Wellington   
Monday, 30 November, 6.00pm​

Wellington   

Monday, 30 November, 8.30pm​​

Westport   

Wednesday, 13 January 2027, 7.00pm​​

MUSICAL NOT MUSICAL >> ​

Film Societies of Aotearoa New Zealand

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New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: [email protected]
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2026 SEASON
    • MIKHAIL KALATOZOV
    • HONG KONG CLASSICS
    • MUSICAL NOT MUSICAL
    • 70s THRILLERS
    • CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
    • KIWI CINEMA
    • RETRO CLASSICS
    • CULT FAVOURITES
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • GERMAN CINEMA
    • WORLD CINEMA