BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD Screens Opening Night at The 52nd NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL September 30th

By Tom Stockman | September 5, 2021

The 52nd NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL kicks off with BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD on Thursday, Sep 30th, at 6:30 PM at Rocketown Concert Venue (601 4th Ave. S). Ticket information can be found HERE

 The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) today announces plans for the organization’s 52nd annual event, a week-long celebration of film, music and culture reimagined to spotlight the city’s vibrant cultural venues and bring the surrounding communities and creative industries back to central Nashville. To take place September 30 through October 6, 2021, the 52nd Nashville Film Festival will present in-person screenings, events, workshops and panels throughout the week, while maintaining a virtual festival platform to host the more than 150 planned films, talkbacks and more to be featured this year.

BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD is a deeply personal documentary that explores the life and career of the legendary songwriter, composer and producer through a literal and metaphorical road trip exploring Brian’s hometown. With Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine behind the wheel and Brian selecting the music, the two revisit many of the periods and locations integral in shaping Brian’s life. The feature length film artfully weaves fascinating anecdotes throughout an impressionistic love letter to both Brian’s music and Los Angeles.

Incorporating interviews with a diverse set of musicians that were profoundly inspired by Brian’s musical legacy, including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Nick Jonas, Linda Perry, Jim James, Gustavo Dudamel, Jakob Dylan, Taylor Hawkins and Bob Gaudio, and others, the film also features over 50 of Brian’s most iconic hits, rare tracks, never-before-heard demos, and his own personal home movies and photo albums.

With honesty and humor, this intimate, unconventional, and deeply revealing portrait of one of rock & roll’s most legendary – but most enigmatic – icons, explores The Beach Boys cofounder’s life in music, his struggles with mental illness, and the daily rhythms of his life.

Prior to the Festival’s virtual event in 2020, the Nashville Film Festival had been hosted in multiplex theater environments, limiting the organization’s ability to fully capture the vibrancy of the city of Nashville for the event and its attendees. With the capacity to reexamine festival logistics and priorities over the last year, NashFilm Executive Director Jason Padgitt, Programming Manager Lauren Ponto and the organization’s board of directors seized the opportunity to reimagine the in-person Nashville Film Festival experience for 2021. 

This year, the festival will take place across a selection iconic cultural venues in the heart of the city, including:

• Rocketown (601 4th Ave. S) – Downtown’s vast event and concert venue will be home to Opening Night events on Thursday, September 30 and festival screenings, Q&As and select live events through Sunday, October 3
• Belmont University Theater (1900 Belmont Ave) – A world-class performing arts center on the heart of Belmont’s campus, the theater will host film screenings and panel discussions on Monday, October 4
• Marathon Music Works (1402 Clinton St.) – A turn-of-the-century auto factory turned Nashville’s most unique concert & event venue, Marathon Music Works will host film screenings, Q&As, live music performances and more on Tuesday, October 5
• The Belcourt Theater (2012 Belcourt Ave) – Home to silent movies when it opened in 1925, then the Grand Ole Opry and more, the historical Belcourt Theater will host the Nashville Film Festival Closing Night presentation on Wednesday, October 6 

“This year’s festival will create an attendee experience unlike any in our more than fifty year history and bring our film screenings and events into the downtown footprint for the first time,” said Padgitt. “One of our festival’s long-term ambitions has been to integrate our programming and events into the heart of Nashville, and this year, we are one major step closer to creating a festival experience that brings that vision to life.”