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A feature-length documentary about Big Star will launch in cinemas this year.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me follows the '70s rock band who formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1971.

The original lineup consisted of Chris Bell, Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel.

Although they were together for less than four years at that time, their music influenced the likes of Rem, The Replacements, Elliott Smith and The Flaming Lips.

Directed by Drew DeNicola, the documentary features never-seen-before footage, rare music, and in-depth interviews with the original band members, their friends and family, and artists they influenced.

After being featured at the London and Glasgow Film Festivals, Nothing Can Hurt Me will be released in the UK from August 1.

Cinemas in London, Cambridge, Norwich, Exeter, Edinburgh, Southampton, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester will be screening the documentary.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is the latest of a recent crop of buzzworthy documentaries that introduces viewers to talented artists who struggled to find mainstream success when their music was originally released. The story of Memphis rockers Big Star includes incredible artistic achievements followed by snowballing bad luck. When band members Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel formed in 1971, Chilton was reinventing himself a few years after having a #1 hit single at the tender age of 16 with "The Letter" (by his previous band The Box Tops).  

Everything about the early days of Big Star predicted great things to come. After recording their debut album, the cheekily titled "#1 Record", at Ardent Studios in Memphis, the album's release was set to be distributed as one of the first rock albums on Ardent's record label deal through the legendary Stax Records. That label had just signed a deal with Columbia Records,...

It’s a golden era for “forgotten musical acts of the ’60s and ’70s” docs. While Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man took home the BAFTA and an Academy Award for Best Documentary earlier this year, following a wave of acclaim after its Sundance premiere, films like Jeff Howlett and Mark Christopher Covino’s A Band Called Death, Jay Bulger’s Beware of Mr. Baker and Morgan Neville’s Twenty Feet from Stardom have ridden the festival circuit praise to their own well-received releases in recent months. Next in line is Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, an assured, rather handsome look at the …...

Rock 'n roll history is littered with bands that should have been more famous, that were talented far beyond what record sales indicated and more influential than any comparable arena packing artist. But few of them have endured and continue the way Big Star does. While they'll continue to fight to get recognized alongside bigger acts of the 1970s, the upcoming "Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me" will hopefully finally secure their place in history.  The film from directors Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori, both celebrates the artistry of the group and is honesty about the troubles the band, and particularly key songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, faced over their career. The filmmakers gather up a batch of musicians -- including members of The Flaming Lips and R.E.M. -- to share their reflections on the group, along with countless more industry players, and members of Big Star themselves.

The Magnolia Pictures release comes out on July 3, 2013 and have the first poster up for the documentary directed by Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is a feature-length documentary film about the dismal commercial failure, subsequent massive critical acclaim, and enduring legacy of pop music's greatest cult phenomenon, Big Star. The film is rated PG-13 for drug references and brief strong language, and produced by Danielle McCarthy and Mori. David Armillei, Amy J. Boyd, John Fry and Gill Holland serve as executive producers.

There are a few familiar titles we've covered (like Homegoings, American Promise, God Loves Uganda, and more), and I notice one or two new titles that we haven't (like The Editor and the Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan). So I'll be scrubbing the list and return with individual highlights. In the meantime, feel free to check out the full lineup below: Full Frame Announces Complete Program Lineup & Opening Night Film For 16th Annual Documentary Film Festival Invited Program Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Directors: Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori) Myth and music collide in this story of the influence and impact of revered power-pop band Big Star, featuring never-before-seen...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, a documentary about the history of 1970s rock band Big Star—a group that, though never a huge success, proved highly influential on disparate acts like R.E.M., The Replacements, and The Flaming Lips. The film from co-directors Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori tracks the history of the cult band, from lead singer Alex Chilton’s original gig as lead singer of The Box Tops through Chilton’s death just before the reunited group was to play South By Southwest in 2010, followed ...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to the music documentary “Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.” The specialty distributor, which acquired and released “Marley” last spring, plans an early summer theatrical release. Directed by Drew DeNicola and Oliva Mori, the film tells the story of the 1970s pop-rock band Big Star, which never broke through to mainstream success but influenced bands such as R.E.M. and The Replacements. It includes rare music, never-before-seen footage and interviews with band members and those they influenced. Mori and Danielle McCarthy produced; Ardent Studios’ John Fry, Gill Holland and David Armillei are executive producers. Read More: Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures Acquires Venice Fest Danish Thriller 'A Hijacking' The documentary first screened as a work-in-progress preview at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival (where “Marley” also screened), and had its world premiere at BFI London in...

Magnolia Pictures have announced that they have picked up N. American distribution rights to Drew DeNicola and Oliva Mori's Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. The documentary follows 70s rock band Big Star and is executive-produced by Ardent Studios' John Fry alongside Gill Holland and David Armillei. Founded in Memphis by Chris Bell, and fronted by rock legend Alex Chilton, the original Big Star lineup also featured Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. Together less than four years, the band flirted with mainstream success but never achieved it. Nonetheless, they produced a body of work of seminal importance to pop and alternative music, influencing major artists like Rem, the Replacements, Elliot Smith, the Flaming Lips and countless others.

Magnolia Pictures have announced that they have picked up N. American distribution rights to Drew DeNicola and Oliva Mori's Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. The documentary follows 70s rock band Big Star and is executive-produced by Ardent Studios' John Fry alongside Gill Holland and David Armillei. Founded in Memphis by Chris Bell, and fronted by rock legend Alex Chilton, the original Big Star lineup also featured Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. Together less than four years, the band flirted with mainstream success but never achieved it. Nonetheless, they produced a body of work of seminal importance to pop and alternative music, influencing major artists like Rem, the Replacements, Elliot Smith, the Flaming Lips and countless others.

The Wagner/Cuban Company.s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they have acquired North American rights to Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me , the definitive documentary about the beloved and influential '70s rock band Big Star. Directed by Drew DeNicola and Oliva Mori, the film was produced by Mori and Danielle McCarthy, executive-produced by John Fry, founder of Ardent Studios, with Gill Holland and David Armillei, and co-produced by Brian Sprouse. Founded in Memphis by Chris Bell, and fronted by rock legend Alex Chilton, the original Big Star lineup also featured Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. Together less than four years, the band flirted with mainstream success but never achieved it. Nonetheless, they produced a body of work of seminal importance to pop and alternative music,...

If you recognize the name Big Star, chances are you’re already a fan. Considered by many grandfathers of indie-rock, the band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1971. A precarious time for music, Big Star released their first two albums (the dual pop masterpieces #1 Record and Radio City) just as the major labels were riding the post-60s hangover away from creative ingenuity and towards corporate rock excess. Beleaguered and disheartened by their lack of mainstream success, Big Star went on to release one more album, the frustrated and nihilistic chronicle of artistic disintegration Third / Sister Lovers.

Co-founder Chris Bell died in a car accident in 1978 at the age of twenty-seven. Alex Chilton, the band’s lead singer and foremost creative force, pursued a solo-career, acted as a mentor for many of his disciples (including The Replacement’s Paul Westerberg), and watched as the Big Star Cult grew. Chilton passed away...