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Arts & Culture

P.O.V. Patti Smith: Dream Of Life

Steven Sebring and Patti Smith at their first meeting, Detroit, 1995.
Steven Sebring
Steven Sebring and Patti Smith at their first meeting, Detroit, 1995.

Airs Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV

Shot over 11 years by renowned fashion photographer Steven Sebring, this documentary is an intimate portrait of the legendary rocker, poet and artist. Following Smith's personal reflections over a decade, the film explores her many art forms and the friends and poets who inspired her -- William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Robert Mapplethorpe and Michael Stipe. She emerges as a crucial, contemporary link between the Beats, punks and today's music.

Shot in lush, dark tones, featuring rare performance clips and narrated by the artist herself, "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" is an impressionistic journal of a multi-faceted artist that underscores her unique place in American culture.

Watch the trailer and view a photo gallery.