March 2, 2018. WeTransfer, in conjunction with Matador Records, released Friends of Wonder, a documentary film about Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile filmed at the Loew’s Jersey Theatre. Directed by Kurt Vincent and Irene Chin, Friends of Wonder beautifully tells the story of the duo’s friendship and creative collaboration which led to the creation of their critically acclaimed album, Lotta Sea Lice and subsequent tour. The narrative is interspersed with live footage of Kurt and Courtney’s 2017 show at the historic, community-run, Loew's Jersey Theatre.
The documentary is the latest feature on WePresent, an editorial platform by WeTransfer that showcases creative ideas to spark inspiration. WePresent has 1 million monthly readers and is focused on music, photography, arts and culture content from around the world. Friends of Wonder is a continuation of a series of visual pieces produced by WeTransfer, including the Baltimore Dance Project documentary with FKA Twigs, a collaboration with Bjork on a video for her song “Arisen My Senses” directed by Jesse Kanda and Arca, a commemorative zine detailing the making of Sampha’s Mercury Prize winning album “Process,” as well as an imaginative online exhibition called A Message From Earth that celebrated the Voyager Golden Record’s 40th anniversary with new pieces from over 40 contributors.
See more from WePresent here.
Friends of Wonder was directed and edited by duo and couple Vincent and Chin, who first collaborated on the critically acclaimed documentary The Lost Arcade, the story of the last old school arcade in NYC and the diverse community that played there. It was described by The New York Times as, “Part scrappy, part sweet, and wholly enjoyable.”
"While editing the movie Irene and I would constantly look at each other and smile,” recollected Vincent. “We were editing scenes with two of our favorite musicians performing in a magical setting. We dreamed up this crazy movie about a mysterious movie palace and this concert - and the film turned out exactly how we imagined it. That's not always how it works out."
WeTransfer is all about supporting the arts and making the creative process easier for everyone. WeTransfer VP Marketing Stephen Canfield said:
"WeTransfer comes from the creative community and we’re obsessed with creative ideas - where they come from, how they come together, and what they can do. That’s why we help over 40 million people transfer a billion files back and forth each month. They’re in the process of making something, and they’re creatives like us. Supporting the arts has been a central part of our purpose for that reason, and we donated 5 billion ad impressions to musicians, photographers, designers, artists, and non-profits in the last year to promote their work. In 2017, we worked with dozens of artists like Björk, Ryan McGinley, and Kamasi Washington to bring new projects to life, and we’re humbled they continue to trust us with their ideas. We’re looking forward to a continuing commitment in 2018 and to supporting whatever our collaborators think of next."
Increasingly, a long list of musicians, photographers, artists, and more have used WeTransfer to release and premier new projects, including Prince, Moby, LCD Soundsystem, Chance the Rapper, Alt-J, and hundreds more.
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile’s Lotta Sea Lice is a conversation between friends, documented in raw, unvarnished song, brimming with personal history, crackling with energy and shot through with humour. What started as a loose plan to record a couple songs with no plans for release, turned into this full-length-"because the vibe was so strong," says Kurt. There's an unforced ease to the record, helped by the fact that the pair have been not just friends, but hardcore fans of each other's work for years. The album is available now for purchase on Matador Records.