A new documentary, Summer Tour, captures the enduring spirit of the Grateful Dead and the magic of the Deadhead community through the journey of two young fans following Dead & Company on the band’s final tour in 2023.
Directed by photographer/filmmaker and longtime Deadhead Mischa Richter, Summer Tour was produced by actress/director Chloe Sevigny—who recently honored the Grateful Dead at the Kennedy Center Honors—alongside Richter, Evelina Kirgan, and Lizzie Nastro Adler of King Bee Productions, with cinematography by Hayden Mason. The film is set to makes its world premiere tonight at the Telluride Film Festival.
While details about the film remain limited, the festival’s program guide offers this description:
Few American demographics are more easily caricatured than Deadheads, those swirling, dosing, hippy-dressed vagabonds. But in his infinitely sweet and wise documentary, director Mischa Richter offers us the Deadheads as complex, self-aware and resourceful members of a wandering commune, one that’s admirable for its kindness and care. Our central subjects, Jerry and Annie, set off in their van to follow Dead and Co.—the most recent successor to the original band—on its final tour. They make just enough money busking (Jerry, of course, is a gifted guitarist) to get by. With editing by Jay Rabinowitz, SUMMER TOUR flows along like a Dead song, riffing and jamming and offering tiny sparks of delight along the way. As it progresses, the film presents a certain irresistible logic to the Deadhead way of life. At a moment when the modern world is spinning into uncertain social, political, environmental and technological terrain, perhaps we should all get on the bus.
“I’m thrilled to have produced this alongside @mischarichter @lizzienastro @satelliterepairs and others,” Chloe Sevigny shared in an Instagram post ahead of the film’s premiere. “Mischa and I started going to Dead shows around 1990 and we fell for the scene as much as the music. This love letter is not to be missed.”
Below, scroll through images from Summer Tour shared by Hayden Mason and stay tuned for further updates on the film.
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h/t Philm