Tamra Davis’ “The Best Summer” Captures 90s Music Scene with Raw, Nostalgic Sundance Debut
A rediscovered trove of 1995-1996 tour footage forms the heart of “The Best Summer,” a new documentary by Tamra Davis premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, offering an intimate glimpse into a bygone era of music and a testament to the power of personal filmmaking. The film, rooted in tapes salvaged during the Malibu fires, showcases performances and behind-the-scenes moments with iconic bands like the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, and Foo Fighters, alongside a captivating exploration of memory and artistic connection.
Davis, 64, describes her approach to filmmaking as instinctive. “I just always had a camera in my hands,” she explained in a recent interview. “I identify as a filmmaker. This is normal for me to have a camera in my hand. People don’t think twice about it. It’s so unobtrusive.” This naturalistic style is central to the film’s appeal, offering an unvarnished look at life on the road.
The documentary’s origins are tied to a dramatic event: the evacuation of Davis’ Malibu home during the wildfires last year. While sorting through belongings, she unearthed the tapes, capturing a period when she was newly married to Michael Diamond (Mike D) of the Beastie Boys. The footage chronicles their time touring Australia and Asia, sharing the stage with a diverse lineup of artists including Pavement, Beck, Rancid, the Amps, and Bikini Kill.
“The Best Summer” isn’t simply a concert film; it’s a character study, amplified by a unique interview format. Davis and Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna engaged band members in a series of questions, ranging from the mundane – favorite color, current reading material, personal motto – to more profound inquiries about performance and identity. According to Davis, these conversations allowed Hanna to explore her own artistic persona in real-time.
Davis’ extensive filming during the tour yielded a surprising amount of material. “With Mike, I filmed so much — every time I went out on the road with them,” she said. “So I had tons of Beastie Boys stuff. I didn’t know I had all of that other stuff. I filmed Foo Fighters and Beck and Pavement, I didn’t know I filmed any of that.” This serendipitous discovery allowed the film to expand beyond a Beastie Boys-centric narrative.
The timing of the tour coincided with a pivotal moment in Davis’ career, fresh off directing “Billy Madison,” which propelled Adam Sandler to stardom. Having previously directed music videos for many of the bands featured in the documentary, as well as films like “Guncrazy” and “CB4,” Davis brought a seasoned eye to capturing the energy of the era. She would later direct Dave Chappelle in “Half Baked” and Britney Spears in “Crossroads,” and contribute to documentaries including “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child,” which screened at Sundance in 2010.
The film’s aesthetic reflects its origins, prioritizing authenticity over polish. Davis and editor Jessica Hernandez intentionally preserved the raw feel of the original footage, often shooting entire songs in single takes, mirroring the perspective of an audience member. The audio, largely unaltered from the camera’s built-in microphone, further enhances the sense of immediacy. “It’s like watching a memory,” Davis noted, describing the experience of revisiting the footage as akin to a “Black Mirror” episode.
Several key figures from the 90s music scene are expected to attend the Sundance screening, including Kathleen Hanna and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. A particularly poignant element of the film is Hanna’s interview with Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, a conversation that foreshadowed their eventual marriage in 2006, imbued with a rom-com-like charm. Diamond himself suggested the end credits feature “Starring Kathleen Hanna,” acknowledging her significant presence throughout the film.
One striking aspect of the concert footage is the absence of cell phones, a stark contrast to the ubiquitous screens seen at modern concerts. “I think there’s an authenticity about it,” Davis observed. “When I look at my female performers and the artists in this film, I love how they present themselves and how equal they seem with the men.”
Navigating music rights and securing permissions proved challenging, but Davis prioritized collaboration with the artists themselves. “The only people I wanted notes from was the bands,” she explained. To ensure artistic control, the film was self-funded, allowing Davis to directly address any concerns raised by the musicians.
Davis’ career as a woman director in 1990s Hollywood often meant accepting available opportunities. “Sometimes people are like, oh my God, it’s amazing you got to direct ‘Billy Madison,’ you got to direct Chris Rock in ‘CB4’ or ‘Half-Baked’ with Dave Chappelle. That’s what I was offered,” she recalled. “These were unknown comedians. They’d never done a feature film. As a girl, that’s what you get what’s offered. But then how do you turn that into something special?”
Currently working on a memoir, Davis hopes “The Best Summer” will inspire a new generation of filmmakers. “I’m think it’s exciting for young filmmakers to see that there’s a film in the festival that’s shot by one person,” she said. “It makes you feel like you don’t need to have a gigantic everything to make a movie. One person can make a film.” She also expressed excitement about proving that a filmmaker’s career doesn’t have an expiration date. “I always felt like, ‘Oh, you’re too young.’ Then it’s, ‘You’re too old.’ It was never the right time for me. But I felt like it was my time, so you just had to keep doing it.”
