David Byrne’s warm, surreal portrait of small-town America, where eccentric characters, dreams and everyday life collide in unexpected ways.

Southend CineScene Presents : True Stories (1986), the wonderfully strange, funny and affectionate cult film written and directed by David Byrne.

Part documentary, part musical, part small-town comedy and completely its own thing, True Stories takes us to the fictional town of Virgil, Texas, where ordinary people share their hopes, dreams, eccentricities and everyday lives.

Featuring a brilliant soundtrack by Talking Heads, alongside performances from John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Spalding Gray and David Byrne, True Stories is a warm, surreal and unexpectedly moving portrait of American life.

It's a film about community, connection, consumerism, love, loneliness and the peculiar joy of being yourself.

And yes, there are some great songs.

🎬 About Southend CineScene

Southend CineScene is a free monthly film screening bringing adventurous, unusual and much-loved cinema to Beecroft Art Gallery.

From cult favourites and overlooked classics to international cinema and left-field discoveries, CineScene is about watching great films together, on the big screen, in the heart of Southend.

Description supplied by the event organiser.