Pavements, a quirky mix of biopic and documentary by Alex Ross Perry, is set to debut at the Venice Film Festival this year.
Running from August 28 to September 7, the festival will feature Pavements in its Orrizonti competition section, though they haven’t nailed down an exact premiere date yet. The film stars band members alongside Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker, Zoe Lister-Jones, Michael Esper, Nat Wolff, Fred Hechinger, Logan Miller, Griffin Newman, and Kathryn Gallagher. It’s described as a “prismatic” blend of narrative and documentary styles that also covers Pavement’s 2022 reunion tour.
In 2022 New Yorker article first broke the news about Pavements, which led to a New York musical based on the band—footage of which is included in the movie. The film emerged from Stephen Malkmus’s unique vision; he didn’t want a traditional documentary but sought something more creative: no screenplay but lots of storytelling. According to today’s update, it captures preparations for a musical featuring their songs and even explores plans for a museum dedicated to their history.
I think it’s cool how different ideas can come together to make something new.
Alex Ross Perry has dabbled in various indie projects before this one; he directed Pavement’s “Harness Your Hopes” video and films like Her Smell. In an interview with The New Yorker, Perry said he aimed for something “legitimate yet ridiculous,” blending elements from Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan movie and Scorsese documentaries with bits from Pennebaker’s work and Dylan’s own much-criticized film Renaldo and Clara.
