The Thousands

When Patti Smith moved to NYC in 1967 she said she was going to "kick poetry’s ass". Obviously it was not only poetry’s butt that had the boot coming. But how Patti got from the pig swamps of Jersey to godmother of punk is a story we all need to hear. Filmmaker Steven Sebring brings us a documentary, narrated by Smith, charting 11 years in her life – travels, concerts, spoken word performances, painting, photography, writing and thinking. It’s a close-up view of a legendary artist, and it’s beautiful enough to have won the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance. – KM