STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS

Nashville, TN — Traveling more than 7,500 miles to 35 cities over three years, filmmaker Brandon Vedder (IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE) captures a popular musician’s struggle to make sense of his faith, his music, and America. STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival to rave reviews and is now set for a November 19th digital release.

Upon renouncing his long-held Christian beliefs and walking away from his critically-acclaimed band, Pedro The Lion, musician David Bazan retreated into a solitary life as a solo musician — playing house shows, traveling weeks away from family, and questioning faith and politics in America.

Aspiration Entertainment, specialists in marketing and distributing smart, spiritual, and social impact films, acquired the worldwide rights following the film’s premiere at SXSW. Andy Peterson, co-president of Aspiration, is executive producing. Nick Moceri is producing with Vedder. Aspiration’s Erik Lokkesmoe brokered the deal.

“David’s music and fan interactions center around creating a meaningful space for faith, for music, for social and political influence,” said Vedder. “His journey represents the journey of so many who seek something beyond the veneer of American Christianity, of knee-jerk evangelical political responses, of trite and temporal answers to deep and lingering issues. I believe the film will find an audience eager for that conversation.”

The film continues its festival run throughout the fall with official selections from Nashville Film Festival and Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival (Minneapolis) before a theatrical premiere in Seattle on November 15. Aspiration will then release the 91-minute film on digital/VOD November 19 as well through event screenings and house parties.

To find existing screenings or plan a community showing: www.strangenegotiationsfilm.com

Early praise from the film’s debut at SXSW 2019:

Variety

“Brandon Vedder’s “Strange Negotiations” is a music documentary whose interest goes beyond the usual realms of performance footage and personality since Bazan is so forthcoming about the “breakup with God” that continues to impact his art, career and life”

Pop Axiom

“an extremely impressive documentary about a great musician’s spiritual journey”

FLIXIST

“a deeply personal and heartfelt documentary”

“a brave and honest piece of filmmaking and, in a time where the exploration of faith and thought is often relegated to the sidelines and left in the realm of scholars and academia, the film has brought a piece of cerebral filmmaking to the arthouse circle and will certainly make an impact on viewers of all backgrounds”

Quell Movies

“Strange Negotiations is a poetic and deeply personal documentary about the loss of faith and the struggle to find oneself.”

REEL Spirituality

“a journey into the wilderness, from community to isolation to community again, but one rooted in something more ambiguous, sure, but also more gracious, open, and, again, true.”

The Grey Estates

“There’s a level of radical vulnerability shown over and over within Strange Negotiations. It needs to be at the forefront of what we’re lifting up in terms of modern masculinity.”