Benjamin Smoke
- Director: Jem Cohen; Peter Sillen
- Writer: Jem Cohen; Peter Sillen
- Producer: Noah Cowan
CGiii Comment
You may not have heard of Benjamin Dickerson - just think of a camp Tom Waits and you are half roads there.
This took 10 years to make - a very painful film to watch.
The slow death of a flaming personality - dowsed by the drugs, crucified by disease.
Benjamin is a likeable chap - roguish man, roguish lifestyle.
Lovingly made, too candid for some...but, it leaves behind a little of his legacy - recognised by Patti Smith and those who loved him.
Deeply personal - beautifully told.
RIP.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Over a decade in the making, the film traces Benjamin's life from his childhood, to his work with Smoke and previous band the Opal Foxx Quartet, to living with HIV. But BENJAMIN SMOKE is not a traditional music documentary; it is an intricate collage of interviews, live performances, and time-lapse cinematography, all inter-cut with still photographs by award-winning photographer Michael Ackerman. What results is an open window into Benjamin's relationship with drugs, music, friends, lovers and the world around him, a little-known and rapidly disappearing pocket of the American South. Above all, BENJAMIN SMOKE is an extension of the performer and his music and a portrait of a true American original.
Cast & Characters
Benjamin Dickerson as Himself;
Tim Campion as Smoke Perkussion;
Brian Halloran as Smoke Cello;
Coleman Lewis as Smoke Guitar;
Bill Taft as Smoke Trumpet / Banjo;
Patti Smith as Herself;
Deacon Lunchbox as Himself