Talking Heads are back in the spotlight with “Stop Making Sense”, the 1984 concert film by Jonathan Demme
40 YEARS SINCE THE RELEASE OF THE TALKING HEADS CONCERT FILM
BY OSCAR® WINNER DIRECTOR JONATHAN DEMME
STOP MAKING SENSE.
40th ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE
Trailer https://youtu.be/Oe_Ah8N4LaQ
October 19th
Italian preview at the Rome Film Fest
with Special Night at the Teatro Olimpico at 9.00 pm
in the presence of JERRY HARRISON and JAMES MOCKOSKI
Pre-sales for the public open today:
https://romacinemafest.boxol.it/next/it/romacinemafest/select-ticket/536986
Stop Making Sense Tour Party
Starting on October 24th from ALCATRAZ in Milan
with DJ set by Luca De Gennaro and Tommaso Toma
the screening of the film accompanied by a light show
collectible merchandising
inevitable nonsense surprises
Presales: www.ticketone.it/event/stop-making-sense-party-alcatraz-19131938/
Cinema Experience: special event in Italian cinemas
November 11, 12, 13
This is the greatest concert film ever
Spike Lee
STOP MAKING SENSE. 40 ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE is the special project celebrating the TALKING HEADS film of the same name 40 years after its release, the greatest concert film of all time, a milestone in rock documentaries made by Oscar®-winning director Jonathan Demme .
It will debut on October 19th at the ROME FILM FESTIVAL with the Italian preview screening of “Stop Making Sense” at 9.00 pm at the Teatro Olimpico, with the presence in the room of Jerry Harrison, historic guitarist of Talking Heads, who remastered the film’s soundtrack, and to James Mockoski, responsible for the film’s restoration, for the first “ Stop Making Sense Special Night” .
The tour will then continue throughout Italy with the Stop Making Sense Tour Party, where spectators will be invited to relive the 1983 live show as if they were at a real concert!
Jonathan Demme chose not to add interviews or extra contributions in the concert film, but to revive the unique atmosphere of those concerts at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood with timeless music and a carefully detailed set design. For this reason, the film lends itself to becoming the protagonist of unmissable parties in full 80s style! To give a taste of the film is the trailer with the most iconic images accompanied by the notes of hits such as “Psycho Killer”, “ Life During Wartime ” and “ Once in a Lifetime ” https://youtu.be/Oe_Ah8N4LaQ .
The first Stop Making Sense Tour Party on October 24th at Alcatraz, within the calendar of the ninth edition of JAZZMI 2024, it will be an unforgettable preview with the DJ sets of Luca De Gennaro and Tommaso Toma, the screening of the film accompanied by a lighting system that will emphasize the concert atmosphere, special guests, collectible merchandising and nonsense surprises that will transform the venue into an 80s dancefloor. Pre-sales available on Ticketone: www.ticketone.it/event/stop-making-sense-party-alcatraz-19131938/ .
After Milan, Stop Making Sense Tour Party continues in Italian clubs and theatres for another four unforgettable evenings dedicated to great music thanks to the iconic and overwhelming hits that will make the entire audience dance .
Stop Making Sense Tour Party – dates:
October 24th at ALCATRAZ in MILAN – 9.00 pm
October 26th at VIDIA CLUB in CESENA – 9.30 pm
October 27th at M9 – MUSEO DEL ‘900 in MESTRE (Venice) – 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm
October 29th at TEATRO GRANDE in BRESCIA – 8:00 pm
October 30th at ESTRAGON in BOLOGNA – 9.30 pm
Presales and details on stopmakingsense40.it .
The film will also be released in theaters only on November 11, 12 and 13, in 4K and Dolby Atmos 7.1 audio with the Cinema Experience (list of theaters soon on nexostudios.it and pre-sales starting October 16). The invitation to the public will be to participate in all the events with a dress code inspired by the film and the music of the 80s to re-immerse themselves in the atmosphere of that October 1984 in which the film made its international debut.
Innovative at the time, among the most imitated today, Talking Heads return to center stage with the Stop Making Sense. 40 Anniversary Experience project that will revive and deepen the band that more than any other has revolutionized the creative apparatus in the world of music, fusing disparate musical influences, creating unconventional compositional structures and amplifying the creativity of visuals and performances.
STOP MAKING SENSE recounts the band’s performance at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood in December 1983 , when David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison , along with an ensemble of exceptional backing musicians, performed at the height of their success. The new edition of the film – completely restored in 4K (the first revision was in 1999), supervised by James Mockoski of American Zoetrope and distributed in Italy thanks to the collaboration between Nexo Studios and A24 – includes a completely remastered soundtrack , curated by Talking Heads guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison himself, and was presented last year at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Hailed as “the best concert film I’ve ever seen” by The Village Voice and “a dose of bliss from start to finish” by The New Yorker, STOP MAKING SENSE was shot over three nights at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, where Demme and his crew captured the energy and eccentricity of the Talking Heads’ precisely conceived and executed live show, and all its brilliant gimmicks. The existential gag of Byrne swallowed up by his “Big Suit”; the delicate lyricism of the Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love”; the hypnotic, synchronized gymnastics of the band and its tireless backup singers. By avoiding interviews – and thus ensuring that the “only” Talking Heads talking about themselves were those on stage – Demme effectively redefined the boundaries of rock documentaries to the point that, even four decades later, STOP MAKING SENSE remains a reference point of its genre, a milestone that can be inspired by but not imitated.
STOP MAKING SENSE. 40 ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE is a project conceived exclusively for Italy by Nexo Studios and A24 in collaboration with Ponderosa Music & Art . Media partners Radio Capital and MYmovies.
Milan, 9 October 2024
Film Press Office
Words & Surroundings: Marta Falcon marta@paroleedintorni.it
Nexo Studios Press Office
Luana Solla, Luana.solla@nexodigital.it
Press Materials: https://bit.ly/3MSqhOI
Nexo Studios
Nexo Studios is an international audiovisual production and distribution company.
At its debut in 2010, it built – together with Eutelsat – the first Italian network of digitalized theaters connected via satellite capable of offering live events throughout the peninsula . Having established itself as a reference distribution company for events at the cinema , in 2014 it opened up to the distribution international, offering documentaries and art and culture series in over 60 countries around the world and quickly becoming a global reference company. In addition to following all the release windows of its content at an international level and dealing with all types of rights , Nexo Studios represents important producers and licensors of content, both in the film, music, museum, theater and art worlds. Since 2018, the Production division has been opened, specializing in cinematographic documentaries that are presented in the most important international festivals and markets. In 2019, Soundtracks was born, dedicated to the production and distribution of the original soundtracks of Nexo Studios films. In 2021, it debuted the Nexo TV project, dedicated to the distribution of on-demand streaming content. This is how Nexo+ was born (the first Italian SVOD platform, also present on Prime Video, dedicated to the cultural world that boasts collaborations with some of the most important publishers, producers, writing schools) and Le Vite degli altri (a platform present in the Prime Video bouquet, dedicated to life stories and quality cinema, between fiction and documentary). From 2023 to today, Nexo Studios has also launched 5 new free thematic linear channels: House of Docs, Cinema Excelsior, Le Vite degli altri , East is East , Duri a Morire , available on the main Italian Smart TVs and platforms.