AMERICAN UTOPIA

Spike Lee / United States / 2020 / 105 min / Danish Premiere

David Byrne is taking part in CPH:DOX with a talk. Experience him in Spike Lee’s concert film, where Byrne elegantly and originally shows us that music is (also) art.

Byrne’s critically acclaimed Broadway show ‘American Utopia’ has been immortalised on film by Spike Lee. Eleven musicians in bare feet and dressed in grey surround the front singer with their wireless instruments. A minimalist setup which does not require any special effects, but is all the more impressive when Byrne and his political songs encourage the audience to vote, as the band kneels with a fist in the air  or when they perform Janelle Monáe’s protest song which lists black Americans who have been killed by the police. ‘American Utopia’ is a must-see concert, at a time when we really miss going to one.