September 9, 2024
EDITOR'S NOTE - Our friend Joe Amodei, Founder and President of Virgil Films (and co-producer of the 2019 documentary Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am?,) attended last night's world-premiere screening of Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF.) We're pleased to share with our readers Joe's firsthand account of the event:
I was one of the fortunate ones to be in attendance last night at Roy Thomson Hall here in Toronto to witness the world premiere of Thom Zimny’s new film, Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, which follows the band on their current tour throughout the world. I won’t go into detail on why I think this is one of Zimny’s best works to date, but I will say that the film gave me everything I wanted, and reaffirmed my love for anything E Street and my wish to see the band again and again. There are emotional moments throughout that will stay with you for a while. That’s what great films do.
Roy Thomson Hall is where all the super-big films premiere here at TIFF. This is where the big ones come to play, so it’s meaningful to not just Bruce Springsteen but to Thom Zimny to have their film play here. And it looks fantastic on the big screen, which is kind of a shame, because the film will be premiering on Hulu/Disney+ in October and after a few more screenings here in Toronto, it's not currently scheduled to play in any other theaters. So seeing the film in a venue like this was an added treat, and something I wish more fans could experience.
What was even more of a treat was that I got to watch this movie sitting five rows behind Bruce, Steven, Landau, and Zimny himself. Thank you, Thom!!!
Being a film premiere in a film festival means there were not scores of Bruce fans lined up outside and screaming his name throughout the evening. Instead, this was an audience of film lovers, film executives, and film-festival-goers. A lot of them also were Springsteen fans, of course, but a lot were there mainly to see a good documentary, and they got their wish.
Look out for this on Hulu/Disney+ on October 25th. You will love it.
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We have more Road Diary coverage planned for our Letters To You readers, as the film's Hulu/Disney+ streaming-premiere date draws closer next month. In the meantime...
Click here to check out The Hollywood Reporter's article on the film, featuring an exclusive clip from it.
And click here to read People.com's report on Patti Scialfa's Road Diary revelation about the personal and professional challenges she's been facing in light of her 2018 cancer diagnosis.
All of the above photos from last night's TIFF world-premiere screening of Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are by Joe Amodei, and are used with permission.