Screening of the 1986 mockumentary film True Stories by David Byrne, presented as a sing-along with a fashion show intermission at the Hyperreal Film Club.
Hyperreal Film Club is screening True Stories on Friday, August 28, at their space on Chicon. It's David Byrne's 1987 film, set in the fictional Texas town of Virgil, and this isn't a standard screening: it's presented as a sing-along, with an intermission fashion show that you can sign up for in advance.
If you're not familiar with the movie, it's a bit of a curiosity. Byrne wrote, directed, and starred in it, and he plays one of the kooky characters that populate Virgil. Among them is John Goodman as Louis Fyne, a clean-room technician who sings country songs. The whole town seems to sing its way through the whimsy of everyday life, and the soundtrack is by Talking Heads. It's a small-town character study with a Talking Heads record running through it, and it's got a few cameos along the way from Meredith Monk, Terry Allen, and the Kronos Quartet.
That sing-along format changes the whole thing. Instead of just watching the town of Virgil sing, you're invited to join in. The intermission fashion show is another layer—since you can sign up for it ahead of time, it turns the night into something you participate in rather than just sit through. If you've seen the movie before, this is a different way to experience it; if you haven't, it's a good place to start.
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Doors open at 7 PM, and the show starts at 7:30 PM, running through 10:30 PM. Tickets are $8, with a sliding scale from $8 to $15 available. You'll find it at Hyperreal Film Club, 301 Chicon St, Austin, TX 78702.
