patti smith
dream of life

a film by Steven Sebring

"Fashion photographer and artist Steven Sebring’s gorgeous, up-close-and-personal doc about the legendary rocker is both a journey into Smith’s storied past and a portrait of her life today — less a movie about a musician than a transfixing meditation on her own iconography."
– Sara Cardace, New York magazine

“The singer, poet and artist’s 1975 album ‘Horses’ had if not revolutionized rock ‘n’ roll, at least infused it with a new and arresting sort of incantatory power. (The film) bears almost no resemblance to any other documentary about the punk-rock heroes of Ms. Smith’s turbulent era. Ms. Smith (is) a passionate autodidact whose idiosyncratic style is a kind of homemade concoction of Bob Dylan, William Blake, Arthur Rimbaud, Allen Ginsberg, Little Richard and Buddha. (Her) brand of amateurishness is an article of faith for her, practically a mystical force, and its power can be hard to account for.”
– Terrence Rafferty, The New York Times

“A spellbinder.” – Premiere

“A joy for anyone interested in pop music of the past 40 years.” – The Hollywood Reporter

"Intimiate, shape-shifting, expressively shot." - Film Comment

WHEN PEOPLE ASK HER “HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A ROCK ICON?” Patti Smith says she “always thinks of Mount Rushmore.” Steven Sebring’s directorial debut takes a lyrical, stream-of-consciousness approach that is exactly right in his affecting portrait of the “rock ’n’ roll Joan of Arc” (Stephen Holden, The NY Times) who can bring a crowd of devotees to their feet chanting “Glor-i-a!” as effectively as she can share her pain over the early death of her husband, Fred (Sonic) Smith and her brother, and the loss of her close friend Robert Mapplethorpe and of other artists she admires (Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs). Everyone knows that Patti Smith’s music, poetry and politics are fearless, funny, raw and original. But this film also captures her physical presence – her gamine beauty – and a charming, self-effacing style that will take you by surprise and leave you deeply moved.

Listen to our lates podcasts:

Introduction and live performance
of two songs by PATTI SMITH
(Recorded August 19, 2008)

Q & A with PATTI SMITH and
director STEVEN SEBRING
(Recorded August 6, 2008)

Selections from Q & A’s with PATTI SMITH
& director STEVEN SEBRING
(Recorded August 8, 10, 12, 13 & 14, 2008)

• Official film website
• Patti Smith website
• Director's website
• Patti Smith's MySpace Page

USA • 2008 • 109 MINUTES • PALM PICTURES

For sale at Amazon:
PATTI SMITH HORSES CD
2-CD Special Edition of Smith's classic album,
Remastered with extra tracks and live performances,

Patti Smith: Dream of Life,
book by Steven Sebring

Patti Smith: Dream of Life is a vital chronicle of rock history and a vivid embodiment of Sebring’s film by the same name as well as a companion to the traveling art installation Objects of Life, featuring Patti’s prized archive of memorabilia and ephemera. Integrated throughout Dream of Life are quotes and private transcripts, along with personal and unpublished photographs that reveal Patti’s spirituality, aesthetics, and self expression.