Plus, screenings announced in Lawrence, Chicago, Brooklyn, LA & more!
“The gold standard of the 80s US geek-punk underground. Not unlike a cornfield-surrounded Feelies, if the Feelies had been more fixated on the Buzzcocks.”
– Maximum RocknRoll
It was the end of the seventies. Surrounded by wheat fields, cowboys, and cars, four bespectacled misfits in Kansas — Bill Goffrier, Brent Giessmann, John Nichols, and Ron Klaus — grabbed instruments and blasted out “a ravenous strain of rock ‘n’ roll” as tuneful, brainy, and enthralling as anything coming from the coasts. They worshiped the Stooges and witnessed the Sex Pistols bring punk to the Great Plains, igniting within them an uncontrolled prairie fire to do-it-themselves.
As the Embarrassment, they threw a house- wrecking party and invited “a thousand loving friends” into their underground world of “weirdo New Wave freaks” in Wichita and beyond. They played Chicago, D.C., and New York, drawing the attention of influential figures like Allen Ginsberg, John Cale, and Jonathan Demme. But their independence and refusal to sell out sparked tension within the group and kept mainstream success at bay, meaning they never quite claimed their rightful place in American rock history alongside other post-punk icons like Hüsker Dü, Mission of Burma, Pylon, Wipers, the Replacements, R.E.M., and Minutemen.
Through original interviews, restored concert footage, the band’s inimitable songs, and appearances by fans including Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, and Thomas Frank, this documentary shows how the Embarrassment rose out of nowhere in Reagan-era Middle America to become a post-punk legend that’s almost been forgotten — until now.
SUMMER 2023 SCREENINGS:
June 30 – Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall (followed by reunion concert!)
July 9 – Chicago, IL – The Hideout (w/ director Q&A & solo set by Bill Goffrier)
July 12 – Kansas City, MO – Stray Cat Film Center
July 26 – Brooklyn, NY – NiteHawk (w/ director Q&A with Woody Giesmann)
July 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Brain Dead Studios (w/ director Q&A with Will McRobb, co-creator of The Adventures of Pete & Pete)
Aug 8 – Athens, GA – Flicker Theatre & Bar (free screening)
Aug 17-19 – Wichita, KS – Tallgrass Film Center
WE WERE FAMOUS, YOU DON’T REMEMBER: THE EMBARRASSMENT
Written, Directed, Edited & Produced by Daniel Fetherston & Danny Szlauderbach
Starring: Bill Goffrier, Brent “Woody” Giessmann, John Nichols, Ron Klaus, Evan Dando, Grant Hart, Freedy Johnston, Jeff Jensen, Thomas Frank
96 minutes, USA | Distributed by Factory 25
Official Selection: 2022 Tallgrass Film Festival — World Premiere
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About FACTORY 25:
FACTORY 25 is a Brooklyn-based independent film + music label founded in 2009 by Matt
Grady. FACTORY 25 releases films theatrically, digitally, physically, and curates provocative
limited edition DVD/vinyl combination packages. Specializing in indie niche projects, FACTORY 25 is committed to delivering films and music in perfect analog or digital quality. In addition to WWFYDR, indie film label Factory 25 released the critically-acclaimed Ham on Rye, Werewolf; Sylvio; The Great Pretender; Other Music; Kid Thing; For the Plasma; MA Almost There; Little Feet; Ape; Bloomin Mud Shuffle; Jobriath A.D.; Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU; All the Light in the Sky; Sun Don’t Shine; Marvin, Seth and Stanley; The Sheik and I; The Color Wheel; Green; Francine; The Oregonian; Richard’s Wedding; Fake It So Real; Bad Fever; Convento; Frownland; Shit Year; You Won’t Miss Me; Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same; New York Export: Opus Jazz; Rio Breaks; New Jerusalem; Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo; Until The Light Takes Us; Wah Do Dem; Kids of Today; Two Gates of Sleep; Family Jams; and Make-Out With Violence; Better Than Something: Jay Reatard; Homemakers; The Other Side of Sleep; Buttons; and Pavilion.
WWFYDR LINKS:
Official Site
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