Doc on Nick Cave’s The Birthday Party to Go Global

Cargo Film & Releasing has acquired global rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to the documentary Mutiny In Heaven: The Birthday Party, about Nick Cave’s post-punk band The Birthday Party.

Commissioned by BMG and produced by Beyond TNC in collaboration with Eyewhite, the film is fully authorized by the band’s surviving members and estates. Boutique distributor LABEL will release the film in Australia and New Zealand later in the year with a theatrical run, supported by band members Mick Harvey and Phil Calvert, starting in the band’s birthplace, Melbourne.

The doc provides a look into the psyche and experiences of the band members to chronicle how, over ten years, a group of Australian school friends, led by Nick Cave, jolted audiences awake into Dionysian frenzy with their confrontational, intense performances.

Ian White serves as director. Band member Mick Harvey serves as executive producer and music supervisor. Long-time friend of the band Wim Wenders is executive producer, alongside Bill Lord, Michael Murphy, Stuart Souter and Jenny O’Shea. Producers are Greg Blakey and White.

Cargo will present the film at upcoming festivals and is scheduling a theatrical release of the film in North America in the fall of 2023 to coincide with a Nick Cave tour in the U.S.