If you haven’t already carved out some time this year to watch the hilarious, emotionally resonant, and at-times, self-immolating documentary about The National, Mistaken For Strangers, we absolutely recommend you do so forthwith. And if you are among the denizens of Los Angeles and would like to catch the movie with special Q&A’s from Matt and Tom Berninger (Matt is the lead singer of the National and Tom, his brother, is the director of the documentary), then you are in luck!
The film will be screening at LAEMMLEE in Music Hall 3 December 5 through December 11 and will feature a Q&A sessions with Matt and Tom on Friday (tonight) and Saturday after the 7:10 and 9:30 screenings. Given their fraught but heartwarming dynamic on-camera, the discussion with the Berninger brothers should be insightful, charming, and likely very funny.
Mistaken for Strangers, named after the single from the National’s 2007 album Boxer, is a meta rock documentary seemingly about the dynamic of the band on tour but actually a case study of the relationship between Matt and Tom. It is definitely one of my favorite films that came out this year, so if you have the opportunity to attend the Q&A’s, you should absolutely do so.
And to prep for the event, make sure to catch up on all of our Matt and Tom-featuring podcasts!