Broken Social Scene Documentary Traces Band’s History

It’s All Gonna Break, a new documentary, will debut at the Woodstock Film Festival this month.

A Fresh Documentary

A new film about indie rock band Broken Social Scene explores how they emerged from Toronto’s music scene to global fame. Titled It’s All Gonna Break, the film will premiere on October 16 at the Woodstock Film Festival, with more screenings expected later.

“There was some kind of renaissance going on around 2000 in Toronto,” says a voice in the trailer. Band members describe how they felt free and started hosting basement jam sessions. The video shows old footage of those gatherings. Their second album, You Forgot It in People, caught people’s attention, propelling their career, even though they faced multiple breakups.

Inside the Documentary

Directed by Stephen Chung, the doc features interviews with all band members, including Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Leslie Feist, and Emily Haines. There’s also personal footage that the band has kept private until now.

The film took a long time to make. Chung had a rough cut ready in 2007, but the band wasn’t ready to release it. Since then, many things have changed for the group, and the new version shows their growth over the years.

Fans love to see how bands evolve and change.

Words from Kevin Drew

In a 2019 interview, Drew mentioned that despite frequent breakups, the band plans to stick around. “We are a middle-aged indie-rock band who have decided to come back,” he said. “When you come back, it’s great, they welcome you. Then you ask, ‘Hey, do you mind if we stay over a little longer? We’ll contribute to the fridge and do the dishes, but we wanna be here.’”