The National have announced a new film. The 24-minute short I Am Easy To Find was directed by Academy Award-nominated Mike Mills (20th Century Women, Beginners) and stars Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex-Machina). The film features featuring new music by The National, and is now available at www.iameasytofind.com. Inspired by the band’s forthcoming album of the same name which will be released on May 17th.

On September 3, 2017, director Mike Mills emailed Matt Berninger to introduce himself and in very short order, the most ambitious project of the National’s 20-year career was born and plans for a hard-earned vacation died. The Los Angeles- based filmmaker was coming off his third feature, 20th Century Women, and was interested in working with the band on…something. A video maybe. Berninger, already a fan of Mills’ films, not only agreed to collaborate, he essentially handed over the keys to the band’s creative process.

The two projects are, as Mills calls them, “Playfully hostile siblings that love to steal from each other”—they share music and words and DNA and impulses and a vision about what it means to be human in 2019, but don’t necessarily need one another.

The result is I Am Easy To Find, a 24-minute film by Mills starring Alicia Vikander, and I Am Easy To Find, a 68-minute album by the National. The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically side-staged in favour of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group’s orbit. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they’ve created for much of their careers.  The film, shot all on location near Pomoma, CA, took only 5 days to shoot, but is comprised of 164 scenes.  The production design is sparse and minimal, consisting only of one chair, a bed, rug, and couch used over and over in the film. Beautifully shot by Daniel Voldheim and edited for about 8 months by Aaron Beckum.

The National on Tour:
15 May – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11 June – Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center*
12 June – Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park*
15 June – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
16 June – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy*
17 June – St Augustine, FL @ St Augustine Amphitheatre*
19 June – Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
20 June – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point*
21 June – Montreal, QC @ Place des Arts
22 June – Hamilton, ON @ Pier 8**
24 June – Columbus, OH @ Express Live*
25 June – Ann Arbor, MI @ Hill Auditorium*
26 June – Indianapolis, IN @ Lawn at White River*
28 June – Chicago, IL @ Northerly Island**
10 July – Manchester, UK @ Castlefield Bowl
12 July – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
13 July – London, UK @ Hyde Park
15 July – Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle
16 July – Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark
18 July – Rättvik, SE @ Dalhalla
4 August – Waterford, IE @ All Together Now
6 August – Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
7 August – Glasgow, UK @ Summer Nights at the Bandstand
9 August – Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock
10 August – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
11 August – Buftea, RO @ Summer Well
14 August – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura
16 August – Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
16-18 August – Biddinghuizen, NL @ Lowlands
18 August – Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
28 August – Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park**
29 August – Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park**
30 August – Portland, OR @ Edgefield**
1 September – Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater**
2 September – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre**
3 September – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre**
5 September – Odgen, UT @ Ogden Ampitheater**
8 September – Santa Fe, NM @ Santa Fe Opera House**
10 September – Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheatre**
11 September – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall**
16 October – Mexico City, MX @ Pepsi Center
24 October – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
25 November – Warsaw, PL @ Torwar Hall
26 November – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
27 November – Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
29 November – Copenhagen, DK @ Royal Arena
1 December – Bochum, DE @ Ruhrcongress
2 December – Cologne, DE @ Palladium
3 December – Zurich, SW @ Samsung Hall
4 December – Munich, DE @ Zenith
5 December – Stuttgart, DE @ Porsche Arena
*w/ Courtney Barnett
**w/ Alvvays