Leonard Cohen: Bird On A Wire (1974)

In honour of Leonard Cohen's birthday, we are screening the famous 1974 concert film ‘Bird On A Wire’. Before the film, you can also watch the new film ‘The Bird On A Wire Concerts’ with previously unreleased material from the film, restored by original director of the film Tony Palmer. Separate tickets are on sale for this.

The film ‘Bird On A Wire’ follows the singer/songwriter, who sadly passed away in 2016, on a tour of Europe and Israel in 1972. During the tour, Cohen has to deal with typical things like equipment issues, drugs and pushy female fans. Yet director Tony Palmer also managed to have some deeper interviews with Cohen, discussing his artistic motivations and principles. The film was lost for decades, but the reels resurfaced in 2009 for a re-release.

Melkweg often hosts different types of programmes at the same time, such as concerts, club nights and films. Please note that there may occasionally be some noise pollution from other programmes during the screening.