Born to be wild: The story of steppenwolf

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 🔴 ENGLISH 🔴 FRENCH 🔴 GERMAN

The evolution of hard rock pioneers - Steppenwolf - a band that defined a generation

Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf takes viewers on a ride through the legendary band's journey from their roots in war-torn Germany, to becoming hard rock pioneers in California. This rock documentary explores the evolution of Steppenwolf, from their early days as Sparrow in Toronto’s vibrant music scene to their rise to fame in the 1960s. The film highlights the unique blend of German heritage and blues influences that defined their sound, featuring rare footage and interviews with key members like John Kay, Nick St. Nicholas, and Michael Monarch.

Steppenwolf is best known for their iconic anthem "Born to Be Wild," which became the soundtrack of the 1969 cult classic Easy Rider and an instant rallying cry for rebellious youth. The documentary delves into how the band’s gritty, hard-edged rock shook the foundations of the summer of love, and in doing so, helped define the spirit of freedom and defiance of the era.

This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand the lasting legacy of one of rock's most enigmatic and iconic bands.

A Rezolution Pictures & Lunabeach TV Media
Canada-Germany co-production

available on cbc documentary channel
check your local listing times for schedule

DIRECTOR
OLIVER SCHWEHM

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

“After more than five years of work on this film, I am delighted that BORN TO BE WILD is now being released in cinemas. This film just had to be made, it's the rare kind of story where reality trumps fiction.

Alongside true crime and sport, music documentaries are currently a popular genre in the documentary sector - although the vast majority of these productions come from America. With BORN TO BE WILD - EINE BAND NAMENS STEPPENWOLF, we wanted to prove that a rock documentary made in Germany is also possible. BORN TO BE WILD should, of course, be fun above all - filling the audience up with Steppenwolf sound and taking them on a trip together. It was important to me that you get a real feel for the music, this unique mixture of elements of rock, blues, funk, psychedelic and heavy metal. The humour shouldn't be neglected either.
One of my favourite moments are the years after the actual heyday, when individual band members try to reactivate the group that has broken up and suddenly several bands called Steppenwolf are touring the country and competing to see who has the hardest sound. A very special treasure are the 20 hours of Super 8 recordings that bassist Nick St. Nicholas made available to us, which we were able to restore for the film at great expense and which beam us straight back to the crazy California of the late 1960s, when Steppenwolf performed with The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin - and the use of LSD was ubiquitous and not yet punishable by law. Finally - and this was a very special moment of luck - we managed to track down the very first demo recording of "Born to Be Wild". An acoustic, intense diamond in the rough and a recording of pop-historical significance that neither John Kay nor the other band members knew even still existed, and which will be heard by the public for the first time in this film.
We have produced our own German version for the German cinema release. Unlike the international, purely English-language version, in this version John Kay tells us about his childhood and youth in Arnstadt and Hanover in German. Hearing this 50s street German, which John has retained over the decades, creates a great emotional closeness to him. John, who turned 80 this April, will also sing a song in his native language for the first time ever in the film, which nobody would have expected him to do.”