Film: Andrew Bird: Fever Year
Director: Xan Aranda
Program: Special Screenings
Tickets: Oct 1, Oct 2

Why you should see it:
Fans of Andrew Bird and live music in general will delight in Xan Aranda’s cunning hybrid of documentary and concert film, Andrew Bird: Fever Year. Filmed at the tail end of 2009, a year in which Bird and his band played an astounding 165 shows, the film intersperses interviews, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage with ten full-length performances from the final show of the tour. The result is an intimate look at the hard work and creativity that goes into the building of a live show. Bird’s tendency to change his songs as he performs them, sometimes to his band’s obvious chagrin, makes this a particularly interesting process to witness. Watch out for guest appearances from Bird collaborators Martin Dosh and Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

Track record:
After its World Premiere at the 49th New York Film Festival, Andrew Bird: Fever Year will head to the Vancouver International Film Festival for its Canadian premiere on October 8.

What the critics are saying:
Nothing yet! Since Andrew Bird: Fever Year will have its World Premiere at our festival, no reviews have been published. Keep your eye on NYFF’s Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest reviews of this and other festival films.

About the director:
Andrew Bird: Fever Year marks Xan Aranda’s directorial debut. She was an associate producer on David Simpson’s documentary Milking the Rhino for Kartemquin, which was picked up by PBS’s Independent Lens series. She is currently working on another feature documentary, Mormons Make Movies, about the growing LDS filmmaking community.

What the NYFF programmers say:
“A real discovery: Andrew Bird plays a curious mix of folk, rock, and calypso (and other types of music) using a violin to make sounds that you couldn’t imagine that a violin could make, with very amusing lyrics. The film charts a year in his life in which he has a constant fever (hence the title) where he says that maybe 3 days out of 150 on the road he actually feels healthy. The result is an engaging portrait of Bird’s incredible devotion to his work and his very large fan base, cutting between concert performances, scenes of him recording music in the studio and revealing glimpses of him in his personal life.” —Scott Foundas, Associate Program Director

For more information about Andrew Bird: Fever Year, check out the film's official website, Facebook and Twitter pages.