Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers documentary will come to theaters on Wednesday, October 20 via Trafalgar Releasing to coincide with the late great singer-songwriter’s birthday. Encore screenings in select cinemas will also take place on October 21. Tickets for both dates are available here.
The Making of Wildflowers traces the period between 1993 and 1995 when Petty worked with legendary producer Rick Rubin for the first time on his landmark 1994 solo album, Wildflowers. The doc boasts never-before-seen footage from a recently discovered trove of 16mm film and also contains interviews with Heartbreakers and longtime Petty collaborators guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mary Wharton (Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President, Sam Cooke: Legend, Elvis Lives!, The Beatles Revolution), Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers premiered in March as an Official SXSW 2021 Selection and took home the Audience Award. The doc also won Best Documentary Film at the Boulder Film Festival.
Wharton served as the film’s executive producer along with Tom’s daughter and filmmaker Adria Petty as well as Dan Braun with producing from Peter Afterman. The film is presented by Inaudible Films, Warner Music Entertainment and Warner Records with Trafalgar Releasing handling the theatrical debut. SVP for Programming and Content Acquisitions for Trafalgar Releasing Kymberli Frueh spoke about the documentary coming to theaters in a press release.
“This cinema event will celebrate the music and life of Tom Petty on his birthdate, offering a chance for fans across the globe to congregate and see the film and hear the music together in a high quality immersive theatrical experience,” Frueh said. “The legacy of his creativity and the legendary songs he created at this seminal time lives on in our playlists.”
Additionally, YouTube Originals will make Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers available via Tom Petty’s YouTube channel later this year. Watch a clip from the film below:
