Matt Berninger (left) and brother Tom (right) in Mistaken for Strangers.

We did not expect to love Mistaken for Strangers, the "self-mockumentary" that premiered last night at the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Tom Berninger, whose brother Matt is the lead singer of the band The National, the film explores the trials and tribulations of sibling rivalry after Tom is invited to go on tour as a roadie for his brother's band. We were expecting a lot of fawning adulation over the indie group, who were slated to perform after the show at the High Line Ballroom.

The film managed to defy every preconception we had, however, and might just be the best documentary we've seen all year. Less about the band than the younger Berninger's frustrations at living in the shadow of a much more beloved and successful older brother, it should be required viewing for every younger sibling or black sheep of the family.

Without giving anything away, however, the film's viewpoint had one unfortunate side effect: we left the theater kind of hating The National front man for coming off so callous toward his brother's plight. And we left the movie wondering: would this mean that the audience wouldn't be psyched to see the band perform at the after-party? And since both brothers shared a writing credit for Strangers, how much stock should we put in the "reality" of the film?

Before the show, Tom Berninger  made an appearance onstage after an introduction by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. "It's an incredible honor ... I don't know that it's quite sunk in yet," said the younger Berninger brother, after thanking Ms. Rosenthal, Mr. De Niro, Genna Terranova and Paula Weinstein for the opportunity. "This movie is a really small, little low-fi thing, but I couldn't have done it without a lot of help." The director proceeded to bring out the entire band onto the stage, along with the producers of the film--his brother and his brother's wife (former New Yorker editor) Carin Besser, Craig Charland and EP Marshall Curry. Supervising editor Matthew Hamachek got his own mention as the man "who really straightened up my mess."

So we can love the golden boy Matt for producing his brother's production, and if The National took any hit in its fans' devotion, it was impossible to detect at the after-party. The audience of usually reserved TFF attendees surged to the front as the band began to play, though Mr. Berninger (the elder) was obviously in damage-control mode: dedicating two songs to his brother and two others to members of the band's touring crew who came off as particularly dickish in the film. The band's touring manager, Brandon Reid, got a special shout-out, with Matt essentially saying that despite the movie's portrayal, Mr. Reid was the nicest, best band manager anyone could ever ask for.

Guess you can't believe everything you see in the pictures these days.

Matt Berninger (left) and Tom Berninger in Mistaken For Strangers (TFF)

The resulting documentary--Mistaken for Strangers (which is also a song title from The National's album Boxer)--has been chosen to open the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17th. And so has The National.

From the press release:

“Mistaken for Strangers exemplifies the independent spirit and vitality that Tribeca is excited to showcase every year,” said Geoff Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer. “We are thrilled to open with a film that embodies the journey of an independent filmmaker, and is at its core a highly personal and lighthearted story about brotherly love. It will be a great night of both indie film and music.”
“We’re really happy to premiere this movie at Tribeca, as New York has been home to us for these past 15 years,” Matt Berninger said. “I was happy to give my brother whatever access he needed. I just didn’t expect this movie to include shower scenes.”
"When my brother asked me along on tour as a roadie, I thought I might as well bring a camera to film the experience,” explained director Tom Berninger. “What started as a pretty modest tour documentary has, over the last two and a half years, grown into something much more personal, and hopefully more entertaining. It's a huge thrill to be showing this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival."
The National band members include Matt Berninger, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Bryan Devendorf, and Scott Devendorf. In 2010 the band released High Violet, which sold more than half a million copies worldwide. A brand new studio album from The National is slated for a May release on 4AD with a world tour to follow.

That is just what we in the biz call "good cross-promotion marketing." Sure, some may argue that it seems a little incestuous for the band to be promoting the film as a way to promote themselves, but since the filmmaker and the lead singer are brothers, to those people we say: poor choice of words, hombre.

(Sorry, had to.)

Call them the future of Indie Rock, Brooklyn Rock, Dad Rock, or Adult Contemporary, two key members of home-grown Brooklyn band The National—Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner—are going to be curating a music festival for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, called Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry's going to be taking place from May 3—May 5 at BAM's Peter Jay Sharp building in Fort Greene, and tickets will go on sale in March.

They haven't released the lineup, but if you want a clue as to their tastes, just look at the long list of opening acts (Sharon Von Etten, The War on Drugs, Wye Oak, et al) and guest appearances (St. Vincent, Nico Mulhy, Wye Oak, Phish's Trey Anastasio, et al) of those who accompanied the band at their recent six-night Beacon Theater run.

According to the website, the lineup will be leaked over the next few weeks, but given the way things usually sell out at BAM (quickly) and the quality of their tastes (high) if you think you're going to want to go, you probably will. This isn't the first music event of their new season BAM's announced with a popular curator to go with it; ?uestlove of The Roots is also getting in on the fun as well.

Might be time to invest in that BAM membership you've been waiting on.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Mr. Hope and his colleagues hired a driver and pushed along the coast, trying to get as close as possible to Sirte, where rebels and loyalists were amassing for an anticipated battle or surrender.

"We hardly expected to get as far as this little town called An Nawfiliyah and, once there, we only found rebels in pick-up trucks with machine guns. Another journalist was wearing a flak jacket because he thought the area was unsafe. Then I saw my colleague Kristen Chick from the Christian Science Monitor at this circle of cheering men. I grabbed my notebook and found this unbelievable kid who had made it all the way to the front line," Mr. Hope wrote The Observer in an e-mail from Libya.

Mr. Hope's story was remarkably detailed: Mr. Jeon was still wearing a Los Angeles basketball jersey, had purchased a one-way ticket to save money in the event of his capture, and had been given a nickname, Ahmed El Maghrabi Saidi Barga, which combines tribal and geographic nouns into the Arabic phrase he knows, and repeats, to rebel cheers.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell my parents,” Mr. Jeon asked Mr. Hope. “They don’t know I’m here.”

The Observer asked Mr. Hope if he acquiesced.

"We informed the local US consulate about him, and they have his name," Mr. Hope told The Observer in an e-mail message. "We have terrible access to the internet here and sporadic phone reception, so we didn't have a chance to speak to his family or anyone back in California."

It's safe to say they've gotten wind by now. Mr. Hope's story immediately went viral and was widely disseminated across other news sources. Mr. Jeon has acquired a Facebook fan page.

A reporter for Al Jazeera tweeted that rebels were "fed up" with Mr. Jeon and he had been sent home, but the latest reports from Mr. Hope say he's still the celebrated mascot of Libyan rebels.

Prior to The National, Mr. Hope was a crime reporter for The New York Sun. He graduated from NYU in 2006 and lives in Brooklyn.

Fresh off last month's well-reviewed release of High Violet, formerly moody and mopey the National plays Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday the 16th. The Antlers, who have recorded a highly enjoyable album about cancer, will open (8 p.m., $39.50). As we do not have tickets to this concert, we will instead watch the "Bloodbuzz Ohio" video a couple times. It's just Matt Berninger hanging out in black and white for four and a half minutes. Sometimes he wears a trench coat.

Also promising: Oregonian noisemakers Blitzen Trapper come to Webster Hall, also on Wednesday, June 16, also at 8 p.m. Their newest album-Destroyer of the Void-came out the 8th.

NEXT ON THE PROGRAM > HAPPENINGS

But someone seems to have gotten cold feet. According to a new editor's note on the site, "Due to security issues, the full stream of the 'High Violet' has been removed. A condensed version of the album will be posted shortly."

Rats!

(Trivia: lead singer Matt Berninger's wife, Carin Besser, was a fiction editor at The New Yorker until recently--fun couple alert.)

It’s the Echo & the Bunnymen’s 30th Anniversary, folks. So how old do you feel now? We hope not too old to make it out to Radio City Music Hall for the band’s only U.S. appearance this year. On Wednesday, October 1, the Bunnymen—otherwise known as the original Coldplay—will perform the entirety of their classic 1984 album Ocean Rain in the company of a 10-piece orchestra. Come out and see your colleagues in the hottest in executive goth-wear. [On sale now]

And speaking of anniversaries, New York magazine is in the midst of celebrating their 40th, and they’ve got a couple musicals events lined up for the occasion. On Sunday, José González will bring his lithe classical guitar playing to the Brooklyn Yard. Though you may recognize the Argentinean ex-pat from that tune on the Sony Bravia commercial from a couple years back (remember all those bouncy balls?), González has blazed an international trail for himself far beyond television. Last year’s In Our Nature nestled minimalist, vaguely-Spanish vamps next to killer covers, like Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.” Along with González will be the lovable kooks in the Upright Citizens Brigade. [On sale now]

New York continues the birthday celebration two weeks later on Oct. 10 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Grizzly Bear and the National—Brooklyn’s top two indie acts by any measure—pair off with the comedians in Stella. [On sale now]

Little Joy is coming to town. That would be Strokes-dummer Fabrizio Moretti’s new band about whom we spoke so fondly last week. Besides the Fabster, Little Joy features his girlfriend Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante—a singer who sounds like he’s working even less than Julian Casablancas (if that’s possible), but manages something sweeter and realer with his band's workingman’s blues. Little Joy makes the Mercury Lounge smile on November 13. [Tickets went on sale yesterday at noon]

Cover bands aren’t everyone’s pint of beer (okay, most people’s). But what if you could see four of them battle it out for the title of world’s greatest '90s cover band? We think you’d say yes, or at least your high school self would. On Friday, Schism, Facelift, Monkey Wrench, and The Battle of Los Angeles pay tribute to Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters, and Tool at the Filmore New York at Irving Plaza. Guess which cover band honors which '90s superstar and win a free flannel shirt. [On sale now]

"No way! A 2,500 seat theater!" said The National’s Bryce Dessner, sounding more like one his band’s teenage fans than a well-traveled 34-year-old guitarist. He was calling from Ditmas Park—a few neighborhoods south of the Brooklyn Academy of Music where his brooding hometown band will take the stage for two sold-out nights tonight and tomorrow night. "It's just not something we would have considered."

After seven years of playing to tiny numbers at tiny bars and record stores, the National have finally and truly gone national—even if this weekend's performances, part of the Academy's Brooklyn Next festival highlighting local musicians, is only the beginning. This summer, the National will take to the arena circuit, opening for R.E.M. and Modest Mouse. "I don't know how we'll be playing in stadiums,” said Dessner, whose friend and neighbor Sufjan Stevens contributed to the album, “but at least we'll be able to hear good bands after we're done.” Who’s the modest one, now?

It was all foretold last May, when the National's fourth effort, the soothing, melancholic Boxer, climbed to number 68 on Billboard's Top 200 and later, number five on the Top Independent albums of 2007. (None of their first three albums, their self-titled debut in 2001, 2003's Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, or 2005's Alligator, cracked the list, despite plenty of critical acclaim.) Meanwhile, “Slow Show,” off the album, was featured on NBC's Chuck and the CW's One Tree Hill. Dessner believes that it was the National’s many years outside of the spotlight that have allowed them to capture it now.

"We've been able to do what we want to do and not necessarily think about how it's going to be received, which I think is really healthy," said Dessner. "We've been able to develop our music gradually, as opposed to some bands that explode and there's a lot of pressure for a second record."

A classically trained guitarist, Dessner spent time studying in Paris, returning to the states in 1999 to join the National with his twin brother Aaron Dessner, singer Matt Berninger, and a second pair of brothers, Scott and Bryan Devendorf. ("More often than not what I do in the National is quite simple, but there is something in the sound that does relate a little bit to classical.") At the time, they had little interest in seeking out strangers to release their albums, so they founded Brassland Records with music journalist Alec Bemis in 2001. While Dessner's other band, the Clogs, are still represented there, The National have since found a home at UK label Beggars Banquet Records, the label that launched the careers (itself or through daughter labels formed over a 30-year span) of Gary Numan, the Pixies and Tapes 'n' Tapes, to name a few.

"The Beggars [deal] was like a dream,” he said. “They're still an independent label and really creative and really open-minded and they let us do what we want." And signing with an independent label is not without its financial rewards, too. “If a record sells a little bit, you can make a lot more money than you would if you were on a major label."

So, this happy rock 'n' roll tale doesn’t end with a major label deal?

"We don't even take meetings with them when they call."