The National Kick Off Tribeca Film Fest with Mistaken for Strangers

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival will be running from April 17 to 28 and the annual New York-based festival has begun to announce the movies that will be showcased with the announcement of its Opening Night movie, which is the world premiere of Mistaken for Strangers, a documentary executive produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry (Racing Dreams) that documents the 2010 world tour by Brooklyn rock group, The National, directed by frontman Matt Berninger’s younger brother Tom Berninger (both picture above) who was brought on as a roadie for that tour.

Mistaken for Strangers will premiere on Wednesday, April 17, with a special performance by The National to follow.

There will be more announcements of this year’s film slate on Monday and Tuesday, March 5 and 6, but in the meantime, here’s the official press release for the opening night film:

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) today announced that the world premiere of Mistaken for Strangers, executive produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry and produced by Matt Berninger, Carin Besser and Craig Charland, will open the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express. Director Tom Berninger chronicles his experience on tour with his brother, The National’s frontman Matt Berninger, in this funny and affecting film, which will also play during the Festival’s 12th edition. The premiere, taking place on Wednesday, April 17, will be followed by a special performance by The National. The Festival will run through April 28.

Mistaken for Strangers follows The National on its biggest tour to date. Newbie roadie Tom (lead singer Matt Berninger’s younger brother) is a heavy metal and horror movie enthusiast, and can’t help but put his own spin on the experience. Inevitably, Tom’s moonlighting as an irreverent documentarian creates some drama for the band on the road. The film is a hilarious and touching look at two very different brothers and an entertaining story of artistic aspiration.

“Mistaken for Strangers exemplifies the independent spirit and vitality that Tribeca is excited to showcase every year,” said Geoff Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer. “We are thrilled to open with a film that embodies the journey of an independent filmmaker, and is at its core a highly personal and lighthearted story about brotherly love. It will be a great night of both indie film and music.”

“We’re really happy to premiere this movie at Tribeca, as New York has been home to us for these past 15 years,” Matt Berninger said. “I was happy to give my brother whatever access he needed. I just didn’t expect this movie to include shower scenes.”

“When my brother asked me along on tour as a roadie, I thought I might as well bring a camera to film the experience,” explained director Tom Berninger. “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. It’s a huge thrill to be showing this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival.”

The National band members include Matt Berninger, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Bryan Devendorf and Scott Devendorf. In 2010 the band released High Violet, which sold more than half a million copies worldwide. A brand new studio album from The National is slated for a May release on 4AD with a world tour to follow.

The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will announce its feature film slate on March 5 and 6, 2013.

Movie News

Marvel and DC

X