Ahead of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, a powerful drama exploring the making of the 1982 album Nebraska, Lumière’s Head of Programming, Wouter Greven, will be in conversation with writer, columnist and Springsteen enthusiast Leon Verdonschot. Verdonschot has already created a film, a book and a theatre production about Springsteen. In a pre-screening discussion, they will talk about the biopic genre, Bruce Springsteen, the Nebraska album, and, of course, the film itself.

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Language: Dutch

1981 is a crucial year in Springsteen’s career. He has just scored a huge hit with Hungry Heart and completed the biggest tour of his career, but the young musician is struggling with the pressure of success and demons from his past. The record company wants him to go to the studio to record a new album, but Springsteen decides to rent a house in Colts Neck, New Jersey. In a dark house, he reads Flannery O’Connor and watches Terrence Malick’s Badlands over and over again. He buys a 4-track recorder, picks up an acoustic guitar and starts turning the dark thoughts haunting his mind into songs. The record company initially saw little potential in the result, but Nebraska is now considered one of his best albums.

Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) based his film on Warren Zanes’ biography of Springsteen. The result is a raw portrait of a tormented artist trying to come to terms with his dark past. (mv)