Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2004)

Director:

Margaret Brown

Release Date:

22 December 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Music

Tagline:

What would you sacrifice to follow your dream?

Plot Keywords:

Concert Footage | Music Industry | Folk Music | Singer | Solo Performance

Cast

Townes van Zandt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joe Ely	...	Himself
Guy Clark	...	Himself
Willie Nelson	...	Himself
Kris Kristofferson	...	Himself
Donna Spence	...	Herself
Ann Rice	...	Herself
Luke Sharpe	...	Himself
John Ruehl	...	Himself
Bob 'Maverick' Myrick	...	Himself
Frank 'Chito' Greer	...	Himself
Fran Lohr	...	Herself
Jerry Jeff Walker	...	Himself
Kevin Eggers	...	Himself
Wrecks Bell	...	Himself
David Olney	...	Himself
J.T. Van Zandt	...	Himself
Steve Earle	...	Himself
Susanna Clark	...	Herself
Peggy Underwood	...	Herself
Leland Waddell	...	Himself
Cindy Van Zandt Lindgram	...	Herself
Katie Belle Van Zandt	...	Herself
Mickey White	...	Himself
John Lomax III	...	Himself
Harold Eggers	...	Himself
Will Van Zandt	...	Himself
Jeanene Van Zandt	...	Herself
Dylan Ferrero	...	Himself
Kinky Friedman	...	Himself
Emmylou Harris	...	Herself
Bob Moore	...	Himself
Steve Shelley	...	Himself
Tim Foljahn	...	Himself
Larry Monroe	...	Himself
Lyle Lovett	...	Himself
William Hedgepeth	...	Himself (archive sound)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lightnin Hopkins	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Lightnin' Hopkins)

Directed by
Margaret Brown

Produced by
Louis Black	....	executive producer
Margaret Brown	....	producer
Sam Brumbaugh	....	producer
Lisa Cohen	....	producer: imaging
Jannat Gargi	....	producer: imaging
K. Lynn Martin	....	associate producer (as Lynn Martin)
Chris Mattsson	....	executive producer
Ellen Naegeli	....	associate producer
Lecia Rosenthal	....	associate producer
Amy Shatsky-Gambrill	....	associate producer (as Amy Shatsky)
Paul Stekler	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Lee Daniel

Film Editing by
Don Howard
Karen Skloss
Michael Taylor

Production Management
Alka Bhanot	....	post-production supervisor
Dawn Cooper	....	production manager
David Fabelo	....	post-production supervisor
Jeff Nichols	....	production manager

Sound Department
Ethan Andrus	....	location sound
Wayne Bell	....	location sound
Tom Hammond	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alex Herrera	....	location sound
Bob Kellough	....	sound editor
Dennis Meehan	....	location sound
Thomas Morrison	....	location sound
Mike Swanner	....	location sound
Buckner Cooke	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Lee Daniel	....	optical printer

Camera and Electrical Department
Frazer Bradshaw	....	additional cinematographer
Sam Henriques	....	additional camerawork
David Layton	....	additional camerawork
David Layton	....	assistant camera
David McGrath	....	assistant camera
P.K. Munson	....	assistant camera
Jen White	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Angie Alvarez	....	post-production coordinator (as Angela Alvarez)
Chris Blankenship	....	on-line editor
David Fabelo	....	assistant editor
Julian Londoño	....	second assistant editor (as Julian Londono)
Joe Malina	....	colorist
Bill Scott	....	senior color timer
Nick Smith	....	assistant on-line editor
Trae Stanley	....	assistant colorist

Music Department
Jonathan McHugh	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Jessica Berman Bogdan	....	clearance (as Jessica Berman-Bogden)
Joe Blink	....	intern
Amanda Bolles	....	production assistant
Christine Castano	....	intern
Ted Chase	....	production assistant
Lee Cohen	....	production assistant
Richard Cornelisse	....	intern
Sean William Cunningham	....	transcriber (as Sean Cunningham)
Jane Derryberry	....	production assistant
Paul Dumas	....	intern
Marc English	....	title designer
Vicki Faust	....	accountant
Mike Fellows	....	production assistant
Caroline Frick	....	archival researcher
Elizabeth Gaden	....	intern
Robert Garza	....	intern
Jay Hodges	....	intern
Christina Jarrous	....	intern
Julian Londoño	....	production assistant (as Julian Londono)
Melissa Mercer	....	intern
Melissa Mercer	....	production assistant
Sarah Munoz	....	production assistant
Steven Schechter	....	production counsel
George Sledge	....	production coordinator
Nick Smith	....	title designer
Francis Stafford	....	intern
Marcella Steingart	....	archival researcher
James Taylor	....	intern
Edward Tuddenham	....	production counsel
Jay Van Hoy	....	production coordinator
Deborah Wiley	....	accountant (as Deb Wiley)
Sian-Zee Wong	....	office manager
Diane Zilliox	....	intern
Tai-San Choo	....	office intern (uncredited)
Jason Perrine	....	office intern (uncredited)

Thanks
Michael Almereyda	....	thanks
Robert Bingham	....	in memory of
Johnny Guess	....	in memory of
Richard King	....	in memory of
Barbara Kopple	....	thanks
Traci Kristofferson	....	thanks
Richard Linklater	....	special thanks
Fran Lohr	....	special thanks
Mickey Newbury	....	in memory of
Chloë Sevigny	....	thanks
Peggy Underwood	....	in memory of
Jeanene Van Zandt	....	special thanks
J.T. Van Zandt	....	special thanks
Katie Belle Van Zandt	....	special thanks
Cindy Van Zandt Lindgram	....	special thanks
Will Van Zandt	....	special thanks
Jerry Jeff Walker	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Rake Films

Distributors

• Look Now! (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• MFA Filmdistribution (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Look Now! (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Alphacine Laboratory Services  tape to film transfer (as AlphaCine)
• Austin Film Society  fiscal sponsor
• Cinetic Media  distribution advisory services
• Matchframe Digital Intermediate  production services (as Matchframe)
• Soundcrafter  sound re-recording

Runtime:

99 min | Argentina:99 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Rake Films

Movie Connections:

Features Heartworn Highways (1981)

Soundtrack:

Delta Momma Blues

Surpasses your average Vh1 documentary AND THEN SOME! Great film.

Even if you're not a fan of documentaries, hell, even if you're not a fan of folk/country, Be Here To Love Me is a beautiful and well-directed story of the life of singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. More than just a movie for hardcore fans of the genre and the artist, the impeccable visual style of the movie keeps the average movie-goer enthralled within it's heartfelt and hilarious interviews of friends, family, and musical contemporaries give dialogue almost too good for a movie.

But then you're reminded that it's a documentary; it's fairly easy to forget. The only narration is the actual audio, be it phone calls (such as in the amazing opening sequence to "At My Window"), home movies, live performances, or the music itself. The camera pans across montages of midwest scenes: old men in the old mens' bars, truck driving, wandering through the desert, and so many others that play like one gorgeous, intermittent music video. Some of the dialogue is unforgettable, be it Townes discussing his addiction to airplane glue, Guy Clark laughing at him hitting on his wife, or his own mother expressing sorrow for exposing him to shock treatments early in his life.

The overall pace of the movie becomes disrupted near the last 20-30 minutes, as the overall flow of themes in Townes' life unfold less and less precisely and with as much organization as the beginning, but that's basically the only flaw to an otherwise brilliant documentary.

Not knowing much about Townes as a person, I can say that this movie helped me fall in love with his music and find new respect for the genre. I recommend it to anyone who loves this man, loves these kinds of quirky stories, loves country/folk, or... well, I recommend it to anyone!